From Liability to Lover and Beyond
by BenXGwen Lightning Warrior
Summary: Jack and Arcee grow closer as Jack happens upon a family secret while running from Airacnid. This secret will see his standing change considerably with the Autobots of Team Prime and especially in the optics of one blue, two-wheeler femme. Divergent point: The middle of the episode "Predatory". What follows will be a grand adventure.
1. From Weight to Warrior

From Liability to Lover

(A Transformers: Prime JackXArcee Fanfiction)

Chapter One: From Weight to Warrior

Jackson "Jack" Darby, he was just your normal teenager that had to worry about nothing but school and oh yeah…there was that little thing about being embroiled in a war between mechanical titans! It all started when he accidentally saw something he shouldn't have. I know what you're thinking. _The Mob got him._ No, he became the charge of a reluctant and somewhat conceded Autobot named Arcee. This is the story of how a nuisance became a lover.

"Arcee, I need you to go on a resupply mission," Optimus said as he looked at Arcee. The femme sighed. "Jack, you want to come along?" She asked as she looked at the human who only stood to the height of the two-wheeler's waist. Jack was nervous but agreed. He had been feeling a little under the weather lately but didn't tell anyone because he was afraid his mom and Arcee would fret over him. Primus knows he didn't want that. The Groundbridge whined and swirled green as the vortex came to life. _Here you go, Jack._ The teen thought as he walked through the Groundbridge with Arcee at his side. As they walked though the Bridge, Jack tried not to stare at the beautiful femme.

Once the portal closed, Arcee was instantly on guard. They were in a forest for one thing, not a mine."Scrap!" Arcee growled. With a smaller version of the sound of a T-cog activating, Arcee had her blasters at the ready. She turned toJack. He looked up at her and nodded silently. "The Old Bot probably mistook a downed ship for an untapped Energon deposit." Jack reasoned to himself. A small smile played with Arcee's lips. Jack was smarter than he let on. They came into a "path" of broken tree limbs and scarred earth. Jack's internal warning system was going nuts. NONE of this felt right to him. As they walked along, a bad feeling started to rise within Arcee. When they came to the ship, Arcee saw flashes of the innards of the ship. That's when the memories began to resurface. She was bound in quad stasis restraints and was struggling for freedom as a cold laughter echoed in her audios. The memory was interrupted as Jack asked "Arcee? You ok?" She looked down and terror filled her optics. "Jack, run!" She ordered as a strange sound zipped through the air just before metallic webbing pinned Arcee to a tree. A giant black spiderbot landed in front of him and made him yell in terror. "Hello, Arcee." The spiderbot hissed with a twisted glee in her violet optics as she approached the slender femme. "Airachnid!" Arcee growled though her stressed vocalize. "I'm touched you still remember me." Airachnid said with a soft demeanor Jack instantly recognized.

 _Great!_ He thought with a growl as he started to feel rage boil up within himself. The teen's fists clinched and he stood, his fear replaced by rage. If he was asked where this rage stemmed from, he would have said he had to do something to protect Arcee. The "why" of the rage was still a mystery to him, though. Nevertheless, he stood, glared at Airachnid with a mountain of fury, picked up a rock, and…threw it at her. Airachnid turned on a dime with a hiss and smiled at the form she saw below her. "A local?" Airachnid mused to herself "My first catch on this world will be your pet, Arcee!" The psychotic femme growled. Jack started to run as Arcee struggled against the webbing. As Jack ran, he could hear Airachnid: "You're making this too easy, human, and I do not enjoy being bored!" She said "bored" with so much malice, it made Jack swallow hard in fear as he slid under a fallen log for at least as small window of rest.

Arcee was still struggling with the webbing and knowing that Jack would either be stupid or brave enough to draw Airachnid away made her fight harder. The human had grown in her eyes to be nothing more than a burden, but the thought of him risking his life for her put serious doubt about her previous assumptions in her processor. She had to get out of this if it was just to thank him later. _If there would be a later..._ She thought sadly. She glared at her restrained body and ordered it to transform. Then, she poured Energon into her body and pushed against the webbing with every ounce of determination she could muster. Soon, the portions of the web secured to the tree released one by one until she was free. "Jack!" She yelled as her voice carried though the forest to the boy's ears.

As he looked up in response to the sound, the twisted grin of Airachnid looked upside down at the boy. She laughed. "Jack, is it? It seems Arcee cares for her little pet, even giving you a name. I'll make sure after I'm done breaking you to keep you living long enough to watch Arcee's optics slowly fade to nothing but black, lifeless holes!" Jack felt something snap inside him when he heard the psycho talk of killing Arcee. He glared into The Spider's violet optics and ginned at her as the sound of a blaster powering up reached the black femme's adios. She looked back to see Arcee was too far away to get a shot and that she was still in her vehicle mode. She looked back, and her optics widened at the sight before her. The human was armed! "If you're going to kill someone, kill them! Don't just stand there talking about it!" He said as he started blasting her face calmly. He stood up and kept firing until Airachnid batted him away.

Arcee transformed and kicked Airachnid to the ground. Arcee noticed fresh scorch marks on the masochist's face. "That was from your pet human!" Arcee looked at Airachnid. For a tense moment, no one moved. Airachnid bolted for her ship, but Jack was waiting there as he leaned against the ship. "I'LL SLAUGHTER YOU, JACK!" Airachnid growled as she charged him. Jack rolled out of the strike and touched the flame of his lighter to the pool of Energon that trailed back to the ship. Then, he bolted as Arcee ran beside Jack, scooped him up, and transformed. They were barely a hundred yards away from the ship when it blew. Jack concentrated and added his unknown Energon reserves to Arcee's drive systems. "Ratchet, we need a Bridge." Her request was answered as the Bridge opened. She was about to transform and walk through the portal when Jack suddenly passed out with a tired sigh.

Arcee flew through the portal and was startled when the proximity alarms went off. "What is it?" Arcee asked surprised as she held Jack in her arms. The Medic sighed. "What happened?" He asked, concerned. "Airachnid happened. " Arcee said hollowly. Ratchet sighed. "As for the alarm. The system somehow didn't recognize Jack. Strange." He brought out a servo-held scanner. "I could have sworn I put Jack's biometrics as an exception for the security system." As Ratchet scanned Jack, something was wrong with the scanner. "That's strange," The old Bot said to himself in confusion. "My scanners are reading Jack as a Cybertronian." Just to double check his data, Ratchet ran a diagnostic check on his scanner and found it to be functioning properly. "Maybe…" Arcee said as she began to pace. "Ratchet, scan him for armaments." Ratchet did, and his optics widened at the results. "By the Allspark! He's a techno-organic!"

Jack groaned as his eyes opened slowly. His skin was greeted by the chill of metal. He shivered at the sensation. It somehow seemed sharper and more defined. _Galvanized steel._ He thought to himself absentmindedly. Then, he realized he knew nothing of metallurgy, and that scared him. He sat up slowly. "Easy…Partner." He turned toward the familiar voice of his femme guardian. "Arcee...what happened?" Jack asked as he held his head and looked at her in confusion. "You got in a scrap with Airachnid." At hearing this, Jack's eyes got huge, but before he could respond, the Groundbridge opened. Bulkhead rolled in with Miko going wild in his backseat "Uh guys," Bulkhead asked slowly when he saw everyone gathered around a medical slab. "What's going on?' He asked as Miko got out and slowly walked up to the berth. "I survived?!" Jack yelled in shock. Arcee smiled. "You gave her quite a beating." Arcee said with a pleased smile."What?! How?" He then noticed the tubes full of a blue liquid that ran into his arms. _Energon?_ He thought. "That's impossible! I'd have to be a…"

Another Bridge opened and a human walked out as she held a small device and walked over to the med bay calmly. All the Bots warmed up their blasters and pointed them at the intruder. Then, Arcee recognized her. "Stand down." The femme ordered with a matter of fact tone. June looked at Arcee, who looked at the device in her hand. "…Cybertronian." June said calmly to her son as she sighed. Jack looked up to see the face of his mother and paled. "Mom?!" Jack asked as his eyes went wide with surprise and shock. "What are you doing here?! How do you know about Groundbridges?!" Miko was about to scream and go on a rant about how cool it was for Jack when Bulkhead transformed and put a large servo in her path. She froze.

June looked at her bewildered son and sighed as she prepared herself. "Jack, it didn't take me long to figure out that Arcee was an Autobot." He stared at her. "You knew?!" June held up a hand. "I knew the truth because I was very much like you when I was your age. I met a Pretender…" She and Jack both saw how every Autobot in the room, even Optimus, tensed when she mentioned a Deception infiltration unit. "Explain quickly, June." Arcee growled as she glared at the Human. "I showed him compassion and love. He defected and…was slaughtered while I was forced to watch…" She shivered violently at the memory. For the first time, Arcee saw herself in June. The femme blinked and knelt so she could be closer to the woman. "I'm so sorry, June." Arcee said as she tried to apologize. Jack walked up and hugged his Mom tightly. Then, a terrible thought ran through Jack's mind. "Is Megatron hunting us?' He asked the Bots as he gestured to his mom and himself. "I think he would be if he knew the truth, but he doesn't have time to watch all his underlings so closely and probably doesn't know." Optimus said with a smile. Ratchet smiled just faintly at the boy. "Jack, I've been tinkering with old Autobot armor blueprints and think I can make an Autobot casing for you." Ratchet said with a gleam in his optics at the welcomed challenge. Jack nodded.

"Hey…" He grinned at Arcee as a thought crossed his mind. "…no more Junior Partner for me?" June gave her son a worried look. "Mom, don't worry." Arcee smiled and stood by him. "If Jack is going to be in the field, I will train him, June. Don't worry." She looked at the worried woman and then to Jack and Arcee's faceplate shifted from caring to hard steel. "You better be ready to enter the Pit. We start at first light."


	2. From Apprentice to Autobot

Chapter Two: From Apprentice to Autobot

(A Transformers: Prime JackXArcee Fanfiction)

Jack slept at the base that night, it was definitely a new experience for him, but Jack slept surprisingly well. The dream he had may have helped with that. Not to get too graphic, but the dream involved Arcee as if she was human. I'll leave it to you to fill in the blanks. He awoke right as the sun was peaking over the mesa. _Showtime!_ He thought with a smile as he took a quick shower and dressed as he was walking up to the Op Center, a small sound made him go to a crouching stance as an unfamiliar instinct. His eyes scanned the room slowly and he found himself being kicked across the room. He groaned but recovered quickly and searched his body for arm blades. Once he did that, the blades appeared out of his forearms. "Let's do this!" Jack said as he used his ears to guild him to Arcee in the near pitch black darkness of the unlit Autobot Base.

She was impressed with Jack's quick adaptation. It was also surprising how quickly he learned to fight. Then, she remembered all the Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee movies Jack watched in his spare time. "Scrap!" She groaned as she remembered the Mimicry Matrix unique to Pretenders that allowed them to learn to fight just by watching others fight. Jack's human size made him quick and nimble. He was able to dodge most of her strikes because of his size, but when he hit, it was with the force of a full size Cybertronian. Arcee was stunned when she realized this after his fist connected with her gut and sent her flying. Jack stared at his fists in shock while Arcee recovered and ran at him. He looked up just in time to see an arm-blade miss his head by mere centimeters. _Wow!_ Jack thought in surprise as he somersaulted over her and cut her legs out from under her, much to her shock. "Alright I call time out," Arcee said. "It's time to review the footage and see your weak points." She said with a smile as she looked down a Jack. "You did extremely well for your first hand-to-hand training session." She said with a smile as she picked him up and gently kissed his cheek. "What was that for?" Jack asked, confused but not complaining in the least. Arcee blinked and looked at him. "I thought it was an Earth custom to congratulate the winner." She said with a smile as her silver cheeks tented blue slightly. Jack smiled. "Well, in some competitions, that's true," he said with a smile. He thought he saw her blushing but dismissed the thought with a shake of his head as a trick of light. "What's next, Arcee?' She smirked. "We go to the roof for blaster training." She said with a stern look as she led Jack to the improvised range on the roof.

He raced her up to the roof with a smile. Arcee sighed. "Shooting isn't like hand-to-hand. It takes practice." Jack activated his blasters and took aim at a boulder perched on a cliff. He concentrated on the rock and fired. The bolt went wide left. Jack glared at the rock and fired again. This time, the bolt grazed the rock and clipped a corner off. "*groan* Why can't I get the shot?" He growled as he glared at his blasters in aggravation. Arcee knelt by him. "A piece of advice: Listen to your body. You have the weapons. Just let your body guild the shot." She said with a smile. Jack nodded and closed his eyes. He felt strange. Logic told him he needed to keep his eyes open to shoot, but he had a gut feeling that was part of the problem. When he shot, he heard the bolt ricochet below the target. Then, he heard a gasp and opened his eyes to see the boulder that was his target turned to a cloud of dust. He blinked in shock at what he'd done. "Well, that's an original way to take out a target." Arcee said with a small laugh. Jack shook his head in shock. _Did I just make Arcee laugh?_ He thought to himself. "Nice one, Partner."

Jack tapped his chin in thought and began to pace back and forth on the roof. "That shot's got me thinking. When Ratchet finishes my combat suit, I want my codename to be Trickshot." Jack said with a smile. Arcee glared at him."You have to earn your name, Jack." She said as she crossed her arms over her chest. "…to just pick a name is a major insult to Cybertronians." Jack smiled and went to a sniper position. "Let me earn it, then." He said with a smile as put his blasters together in a line. The right blaster joined with the muzzle of the left and created a sniper rifle-like weapon Jack made an impressive show of marksmanship and groaned as his rifle disengaged and returned to the form of human hands. "It doesn't seem that exhausting for you guys to be in a firefight." Jack told Arcee questioningly. She smiled. "Jack, your body's not used to the demands weapons have on your Energon stores. It will get easier." She said with a comforting tone.

It did get easier. After about a month of the early morning firing drills, Jack could use his blasters without the strain he had felt at first. Soon, Ratchet had his Autobot combat suit ready. "Jack," Arcee said one morning during a hand-to-hand drill. "Ratchet wants you to come to the medical bay when you can. Your suit is ready." Jack nodded as he blocked a strike from Bee. "Nice." Jack said as he rolled and missed a punch. Then, Jack got a surprise fist to the face that sent him into the wall. He wiped the blood from his lip and charged the scout with a fury of blades. Bee laughed. " _You've been hanging around Arcee to long, Jack._ " Jack smirked as he backed the Scout into a corner. Jack then smiled and disengaged his blades. "What? She's a good teacher." Jack said calmly as he walked over to the medical bay where Ratchet was waiting with Jack's suit which was primarily red with orange flames across the chest. Jack wasn't looking, but Bumblebee had a knowing smirk on his faceplate. Arcee was waiting patiently as Jack climbed into the chest of the battle suit. As soon as Jack's head hit the padded headrest, his vision blurred before he blinked away the distortion as his mind linked to the body and shut the hatch. As Jack sat up, he was instantly made aware of how tall he was. Everything that wasn't built to Cybertronian size looked like doll house furniture. "Wow. This is definitely going to take some getting used to." Jack said as he felt his faceplate form a small grin.

Arcee blinked as she looked at Jack. She knew Ratchet had built Jack's body out of a CNA analog of Jack's DNA, but his form looked quite appealing by Cybertronian standards. She felt her cheeks flush with Energon. Bulkhead and Bumblebee walked up to Jack and smiled. Bulkhead was surprised how quickly the boy had adjusted to his Cybertronian bodysuit. Then, their comms rang. "It's time to pick up Miko and Raf." Bulkhead said as he and Bee left the base to pick them up. Jack felt a buzzing like a phone on vibrate a few moments later. He put a finger to his audio and heard Bulkhead on the other end. "Want to joke with Raf and Miko a bit?" He asked with a laugh hiding in his vocalizer. Jack shook his head with a chuckle. "Alright, I'm in." Jack said before he cut the connection. He walked over to Arcee a little clumsily. "This is definitely going to take a while." He said glumly. Ratchet walked over and adjusted something on the back of Jack's head. "Does that help?" He asked as Jack took a few tentative steps and found his balance to be much better. "Thanks." The boy said with a slight blush as he realized what he must look like to the others. Arcee put a hand on his shoulder plate. "You're adjusting better than I expected." She said to him as he looked into her optics.

The tender moment was broken by the sound of Bee and Bulkhead returning with their charges. Bulkhead's stereo was blaring Screamo Rock. _That's great._ Jack thought sarcastically as he noted Miko was in a good she got out, Miko folded her arms with a smirk as she looked up at Arcee with the strange mech. "Sorry. Did we interrupt something?" She asked as her grin widened. Raphael adjusted his glasses as he studied the pair. "Jack?" The boy asked, surprised. The mech looked down at them and nodded before the suit's chest opened to reveal Jack inside.

He was about to jump out when Arcee stopped him. "Aren't you forgetting something, Trickshot?" It took Jack only a moment to realize he had no Vehicle Mode. He closed the suit's chest and looked at Ratchet. "Do I even have a T-Cog?' He asked the medic with a nervous look. "Yes, but yours is unique. It stays largely inactive in your human form with the exception of allowing you to access your weapons. I was able to connect your T-Cog to the suit so that it will activate fully when it senses the suit." Ratchet explained. Raf explained further. "Jack, think of it like a computer connected to a Wi-Fi printer." Trickshot looked at Ratchet and smiled as he and Arcee walked off to find a Vehicle Mode for the new Autobot. They looked over the stretch of abandoned highway until Trickshot spotted an old Mustang GT, scanned it, and felt his body adapt to the new form before Jack found himself in the driver's seat.

"Want to race?" Jack asked Arcee with a grin. Arcee smiled, and they shot down the road. Driving actually turned out easier than Jack thought, but he contributed it to his Cybertronian half allowing him to control the car as easily as if it was part of him. Well, neurologically speaking, the car was part of him, but that's beside the point. Arcee and Jack jockeyed for first as Jack played with his Alt Mode and pushed it as much as he dared with a satisfied grin. Arcee kept pace with him, and they started to loosen up a little. Jack won, and got out of the car to stretch. "I hope Mom understands when I come home in my Alternate Mode." Arcee smiled. "Your father was a Pretender. He probably knew you would one day gain a vehicle form and warned June. You see Jack, Protoforms gaining a vehicle mode is a rite of passage among Cybertronians," She said happily. "Welcome to Team Prime officially." She told him as she kissed him deeply.

 **Please read and review. Chapter three will be coming soon.**


	3. From Recruit to Rescuer

Chapter 3: From Recruit to Rescuer

Jack stared at Arcee in shock after what she'd just done. "Umm…Arcee?" He asked as his face turned red, and he scratched the back of his head nervously. "Jack, you're turning red. Is everything ok?" She asked as she set him on the pavement gently. "I'm fine," he said calmly. "This is just embarrassing." He said as he managed to blush deeper somehow. "I thought the winner always got a kiss." The femme told him. "A kiss is more than a trophy, Arcee," Jack tried to explain. "It's the human expression of affection toward a person." Arcee seemed to understand, but she also seemed a little put off when she heard this. "Let's head back to base and let Ratchet finish checking you out." Arcee told him as she transformed, and her holographic rider appeared. Jack sighed as they headed back to base. The tone in Arcee's voice was edged with hurt but remained with the same core of seriousness she always had. "Listen, Arcee," Jack said as he hailed her comm. "I didn't handle the kiss right. I'm sorry." He said with a pang of regret in his voice.

Meanwhile, somewhere high above the Earth on the Decepticon warship _The Nemesis_ , Soundwave was silently monitoring chatter across the globe. He happened upon a communication between two Autobots, one with an Energon signature he did not recognize and the other of the two-wheeler known as Arcee. The mech was stunned. _How can this be?!_ The Decepticon Communications Officer thought to himself in surprise. He ran through his personal data log of all known Cybertronian Energon signatures and did not find a match. _This simply cannot be!_ The mech yelled in his mind as he went to alert Megatron of the unknown mech that had aligned himself with the Autobots.

Arcee rode in silence. Her processor was doing too much to be bothered with the task of keeping her vocalizer active. The Cons undoubtedly knew by now or at least suspected there was a new piece on the board. It would only be a matter of time before they came after Jack/Trickshot like they did the rest. She only hoped he could be quick on the learning curve. In her experience, if you didn't get combat training down quick enough to be able to fight, you were as good as offline. As that last word came through Arcee's processor, the femme shivered. Why? Only Primus knew. She was broken from her thoughts by Jack on her comm. "Arcee, are you okay? Your hologram is shaking." _Scrap!_ She thought. "I'm fine, Jack. Stop worrying." She said with a slight tease in her voice.

As Jack entered the silo, most of the Bots had grins or slight smiles pulling at their lips. "So, how was the drive, Rookie?" Bulkhead asked as he looked down at Trickshot's vehicle mode. "It was freeing." Jack said with a smile that faded when he realized he didn't know how to go back to the suit's Bot mode. "Uh…a little help, please?" Jack asked nervously as the Autobots around him snickered and chuckled at the boy's troubles with two exceptions: Prime and Arcee. Arcee glared at the others while Prime showed his discontent at the others' actions with silence. Arcee rolled up next to Jack and calmly said, "Follow my lead and allow yourself to transform, Jack." As she said this, the femme transformed and stretched. Jack closed his eyes, concentrated, and was rewarded with the sounds of his T-cog activating and metal shifting. When he opened his optics, Trickshot was greeted with the lofty view of his biped form. Arcee noticed a slight sheen to Trickshot's body. "It'll get easier. Don't worry." Arcee told him with a smile as she put a servo on his shoulder plate. Miko and Raf couldn't believe what they were seeing. The tension was so thick, Miko expected Jack and Arcee to start making out right then and there, but to her surprise and relief, they didn't.

Instead, she watched Trickshot call Ms. Darby over his internal comm link. "Hey, Mom. I need to show you something when I get home. Love you. Bye." Jack was surprised to get her voicemail. That was not like her. Something didn't feel right. She always answered her phone when he called. Something was wrong. Trickshot transformed back into his vehicle mode and made his tires scream as they spun before they caught and shot him out of the silo at record speed. "Oh no. You're not going alone!" Arcee yelled after him before she caught up to him. Arcee felt Trickshot glare at her. "We're partners," She said calmly. "You need to think about this, Trickshot. You're probably strolling straight into a Decepticon trap." That silenced Trickshot's ready rebuttal. He let out a sigh. "Then, I'm glad you're here." Trickshot said with a slight smile in his voice.

As they neared the Darby residence, Trickshot got more and more nervous. Arcee could see what worry was doing to Trickshot, and she didn't like it. He was getting antsy, and an itchy trigger was something that could get you offline faster than the enemy could ever dream. "Calm down, Jack, please. It does you no good to be anxious." She said with a surprising amount of care in her voice. At this encouragement, Trickshot relaxed as much as he could. That was not easy, but Arcee being there with him helped quite a lot. Entering the garage was the hardest thing for Jack, but he managed to keep his fears under control, for the moment, anyway.

He walked into the house, unsure of what he'd find. "Mom, are you here?!" He asked as he ran through the house and checked every room but found no trace of his mom. As he got back to the kitchen table, he heard something he hoped he never would. "Aw…so you do have an internal comm link?" Jack's eyes narrowed. "Where's my mother, you transvestite femme wannabe?" Starscream's voice shrieked. "How dare you?! I am an honored Seeker of the Decepticon Armada!" Jack smirked as he ran an internal tracer on the call. He signaled Arcee who relayed the coordinates of the tracer to Ratchet. "Thanks…Screamer." Jack said before he cut the connection and marched out to Arcee. She would have smiled as she could have at the moment. "Remind me never to piss you off." She said with a small giggle. "This is serious, Arcee!" Jack growled as he got in his alt mode and shot into the Groundbridge with Arcee following close behind. "Wait, Trickshot!" Arcee yelled.

They both appeared on the other side of the Groundbridge to find themselves surrounded by Cons. "Slag it!" Arcee growled as she and Trickshot carved their way through the masses of metal. "Yeah, I'm sorry about this, Cee." Trickshot said quietly as they got past the initial Vehicon wave. "I love you, Jack. Otherwise, I wouldn't have followed you into this Pit." Arcee declared as Trickshot's optics went wide at this declaration. "When we get out of here, I have something to tell you when we get back home." He said nervously as they gradually fought their way into _The Nemesis'_ brig. Trickshot ran down the corridor as he studied the cells and froze when he heard his mom's severely weakened voice. "Jack, is…is that you?!" Trickshot looked toward the voice just in time to receive a blade to the faceplate from Soundwave.

Trickshot stumbled back from the surprise strike. "Soundwave…" Arcee said as fear flooded her optics. Trickshot looked at the Mech and shook his head in disbelief. Soundwave started to play "Dude (Looks like a Lady)" by Aerosmith. Trickshot smiled and punched him. "You and Screamer, is there something you two are trying to say?" Trickshot asked with a smirk. "I'll keep "Soundwave occupied. Go find Mom." Trickshot told Arcee. She stayed there for only a moment before she ran off to find June. "It's just you and me, Soundwave." Trickshot growled as he activated his blades and began to walk in a circle as they began to size each other up. Trickshot smirked because he knew EXACTLY what Soundwave's Achilles heel was. "I'm a gentleman, ladies first." Jack could almost feel Soundwave's Energon pressure go sky high as the Communications Specialist charged him. Trickshot sidestepped and grabbed Soundwave by the neck as he fell with momentum. "I'll only ask once: Where's my Mom?!"

A few moments later, Trickshot was roaring through the halls mowing down Vehicons left and right. "Arcee!" Jack yelled into his comm in worry. All he got from the other end was static. _Scrap!_ Jack growled before he corned a Con with an extremely narcissistic attitude and forced the rotten mud flap to tell him where the detainment level was. The Con rubbed his neck in shock as the Autobot let him go grudgingly after getting the information he wanted. Trickshot roared down the halls as anger. Trickshot found Arcee strung up and thought she was offline for a terrible second until her optics blinked to life. "Jack, go." She said quietly. "Not an option." He said with a soft glare as he deactivated Arcee's restraints and steadied her as she leaned on him heavily. "Let's find Mom, Partner." Trickshot said with a smile.

As June looked up weakly to the sound of medal footfalls, she braced herself for the worst. Then, she was surprised as her chains were ripped away. "Do your worst, you piece of slag!" The woman growled as she kept her eyes closed. "Mom?" Trickshot asked as his faceplate took on a slight shade of blue at his mother's outburst. June stared at her son in disbelief. "Jack, how are you-" He picked her up and dropped her in his vehicle mode. Jack smiled and hugged his Mom. 'You have an alternate mode?!" He nodded. "That's Trickshot, ma'am." June rolled her eyes. "You may be a big bad Autobot, but you are still Jack Darby to me." She said in a motherly tone as she smiled at her son. "Sorry to cut the reunion short," Arcee growled as she stared firing at the wall of Cons."We've got company." Jack sighed and charged for the exit in his Mustang. Once he busted a hole in the ship with his blasters, Trickshot base jumped from it with his mother safely tucked away inside his alternate mode as Arcee followed suit. "You are one crazy Autobot, Trickshot." She said with a grin. _I wouldn't have it any other way._ She thought as Jack keyed up a Groundbridge from Ratchet. As they fell through, Trickshot felt his orientation in space change and rode out of the Bridge into base safely with all accounted for.

At the base, Bulkhead and Bee were stunned when they saw the two Autobots come through the Bridge. June got out of the Mustang and smiled at her son as he transformed. Arcee transformed and glared lasers at Trickshot. "Arcee, I couldn't help it. I-" She cut him off as they locked lips. When the two parted, Jack was struck speechless. "You proved your metal today, Jack." She said with a smile. "Going against Soundwave and coming out on top? That was impressive." She said with a smile. That got Bulkhead's attention. "You survived against Soundwave?" Trickshot nodded. "Found his Achilles heel and exploited it. It turns out the mech is more self-conscious than you would think." Jack explained with a smile.

 **Please read and Review**


	4. From Decepticon to Dad

Chapter Four: From Decepticon to Dad

Jack told his and Arcee's adventure on the ship to the others as they listened with rapt attention to the war story. One was missing from the group, however. June smiled as she walked to a place where she could safely activate her portable Groundbridge remote. _Jack, you have no clue how much like your father you truly are._ The thought made a pleased and proud smile cover her lips as she entered the Groundbridge. As June walked out of the base into her garage, she couldn't help but think of Eric, as she knew him.

As June stepped off the vortex, she was taken back to the first time they met. She was on her way home back in Carson City when his ship crashed in front of her car. She shivered as the fear came to her anew. The ship was a mammoth, not unlike _The Nemesis_ but it was somewhat smaller, like a scout ship. She got out of her wrecked car and looked at the massive ship. The pang of fear came to her fresh as she remembered the fear and curiosity she had as she approached the ship. The ship was armed, but its weapons didn't bear down on her. June was told later that was because the weapons were blind to organics. She looked around the massive vessel as she noted that she could never hope to investigate the entire ship. She could remember how badly her curiosity begged her to do so. She was in techno-nirvana as she scouted the halls. The technology was astounding. Soon, her guard went up as she heard footsteps on metal.

 _Metal on metal?_ She thought confused until she saw the creatures that had made the sounds. Her eyes grew to unbelievable size when she saw the mechs. One was silver with red pinstripes down his arms and was the Decepticon SiC Starscream as she knew now. Her future husband was the other mech. "…Scout the planet's defense network and see what threat these beings pose to conquest…if any." Starscream told the mech. "Yes, Commander Starscream." Hammerclaw, as Eric was known to the Deceptions, said to his commanding officer. As the mech walked toward her, June watched in amazement as his body shrank and grew something that mimicked skin over his metallic body. Finally, she watched the mechanisms that gave the robot sight change to resemble human eyes. _Amazing!_ She thought before she sprinted out of the ship, unable to believe what she had seen.

As she sprinted home, Starscream noticed the human female and motioned two Vehicon drones over. "Terminate the organic." He ordered with something that sounded like a cross between a shriek and a laugh. June looked back to see two purple cars coming up quickly on her. She would have not been worried had she not heard Starscream's order. She knew it was hopeless to try and outrun the aliens, but survival pushed her on, in spite of that. That intrigued Hammerclaw and perhaps led to the moment that changed him forever. "Ma'am!" Hammerclaw yelled as he quickly got his possessor to work on an alias. _Eric Darby._ He thought as he glared at the cars. He then took a risk and open fired with his blasters until the drones' visors went dark. As his blasters turned back into hands, he looked back at the organic female who was clearly in shock.

 _What just happened?_ June asked in her mind with wide eyes as she stared at the man in front of her. "You never saw me." He said calmly as he stared to walk away. June quietly piped up and said, "W-what are you?" She asked, clearly frightened after the display of such strength. "I'm a robotic organism from another planet." He growled. His processor was trying to figure out why he was even bothering with this organic. "You can call me Eric Darby, organic." He said with a pompous, conceded tone. June didn't take being talked down to very well. She walked up to him and punched him in the face. He smiled at this show of defiance from the organic. Her eyes went wide in pain as her hand started to turn purple. "Anger is better controlled, organic." He said as she continued to glare at him. "My NAME is June, Eric!" The fury in the organic femme's eyes made him shiver. "I'm sorry, June." When the words came back to his audios, Hammerclaw couldn't believe them. _Did I just apologize to an_ _**ORGANIC**_ _?!_ His processor reeled from the realization. "You want to get something to eat?" June asked. "I don't think I can eat what you do." June smirked and put on her sad look. "Okay, Mr. Bot. if you're scared, I understand." She told him as she suppressed a grin. "You dare to call me scared?!" He felt ire boil in his Energon tubes. "You have a deal, Org-June." She smiled and walked up to him. "I know the perfect place. Fallow me." Hammerclaw found out that day his body could turn what June called "food" into Energon.

That turned into their first date. These secret rendezvous continued for a year and a half. Until the day Starscream put a trace on Hammerclaw. June was getting ready to tell her husband of the addition on the way. "Eric," she began as they sat on either end of a table. "I'm pregnant." Eric fell out of his chair at this. "We're having a sparkling?" She smiled at him. He shook his head in disbelief. "Human children are called 'babies', though." She said with the tender smile he had come to love and a small laugh. Eric walked over and hugged his wife. He tensed suddenly as he thought he picked up the sound of jet engines on his audios. "Slag it! They found me!" He growled as Starscream and four drones landed on their front lawn. "Eric!" Starscream heard June and grabbed her with a dark smirk. "Get your servos off her!" Hammerclaw growled as he shed his human guise and started beating Starscream senseless. "Leave my family alone, you worthless scrapheap!" Starscream's optics glowed with sick glee as he looked at the human in his servo. "Restrain him!" Starscream gave June a sick smile. "Your pain will never end, organic!"

That statement brought her out of the memory with a shiver and a scream. The scream brought Jack running. "Mom, are you ok?!" June was sweaty and shaking from the memory, but she gave him a smile. "I'm ok. I just had a bad dream. I must have fallen asleep." She said with a sigh. "It was Dad?" Jack asked with a small smile. His mother nodded quickly to keep from crying. "W-when did you get home?" June asked him as she tried to bring herself under control. "About fifteen minutes ago." He said softly. "Come on, Mom. Go to bed. It's late." He said kindly as he smiled. Once June was asleep, Jack walked out to the garage on the opposite side of the house. "Arcee, I'm worried about Mom." He said to her with a sigh as he laid his head on her gas tank. Arcee would have smiled if she could have. "Everything will be ok, Jack. You're mother is strong. She'll make it." Arcee told him kindly.

Jack smiled. He knew Arcee was right, but he was still worried. This worry did not stop him from finding sleep, however. When Jack realized he was dreaming, he saw a giant mech walk up to him. The teen blinked in confusion. "Who are you?" Jack asked with an edge of fear he tried desperately to conceal showed itself in the edge of his voice."Calm yourself, son." Jack looked up in shock as the mech's voice registered in Jack's mind. "Hello, father," Jack said as he watched the mech take on the form of Eric Darby. "Son, protect your mother since I no longer can," Eric said with a hint of sadness and fear in his face. "Megatron will soon discover you are more than just a human thorn in his side, and that will cause him to hunt you relentlessly as the ultimate revenge against your Mom for causing me to desert." Jack's face burned with anger at hearing Megatron would hunt his innocent mother. Then, his mind shifted to Arcee as hope dared to take root in Jack's mind.

"Ah, the two-wheeler…" Eric said with a prideful smile. "Her name is ARCEE!" Jack stared as his father, pissed by the tone with which his father referred to Arcee. As the Pretender smiled and started laughing, Jack became confused and a little relieved by Eric's reaction to the out bust. "Humans and names…" He said with a chuckle at an inside joke Jack apparently wasn't privileged enough to be let in on. After the last of the chuckle faded, Eric's tone turned serious. "Jack, would you fight for her until you joined The Allspark?" Jack glared at his father as his dream self grew to the size of an average mech. "Dad…" As Jack said the word, he felt a pain that he had grown numb to over the years start to fade. "I would go through the Pit and back for her." Jack told his father with a cold seriousness. His father's optics widened. "You truly are a chip off my Spark," Eric said with a smile. "Know that you have my blessing to bond your Spark to hers."

As Eric said that, Jack jolted awake and looked around to see he was still in the garage sitting on Arcee. He yawned and stretched before he dismounted from her seat and walked in the house proper to take a shower. As he got dressed, Jack felt himself connect to a…storage space of some kind. _Here's a parting gift, son._ Jack heard Eric say in his mind. As Jack reached for his shirt as if there was a physical pocket on it, a keyless remote appeared in his hand. He was so surprised. He almost threw the remote across the room. Jack could hear his Dad laughing at him. _Call that your introduction to Subspace._ Jack mentally stared at his dad in confusion. _Ask Ratchet. He'll explain._ Eric then explained the remote. _The remote is a call for your suit if you happen into battle without it._ Jack smiled and gave a slight nod of thanks before he felt his father's presence leave his mind.

"Time to go to school." Jack mumbled with a sigh as he walked back out to the garage. He then saddled up. Arcee was surprised. "What if we run into Cons?" She asked with a glare. Even though she wasn't in Bot mode, Jack could feel her optics boring into him. He pulled the remote from Subspace and grinned. Arcee's surprise showed in her voice. "How'd you learn about Subspace?" He sighed. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Arcee was mentally grinning. "Your dad taught you?" Jack's eyes went wide. "How…?" Jack asked surprised. "You talk in your sleep, Partner." She told him with a laugh. "Right," Jack said with a slight blush as he thought, _Just how much did she hear?_ He thought. "Well, let's get going. It's going to be an interesting day at school." Jack said aloud, a little worried.


	5. From Soldier to Student

Chapter Five: From Solider to Student

Jack sighed and enjoyed the ride to school while the scenery flew by him as he and Arcee rode in the early hours between dawn and 8:30 AM. There was just one…tiny problem. As they pulled up to a red light, Vince was looking for trouble as usual. "Darby, race you to the school." The idiot challenged. _Arcee could smoke him easily._ He thought. Then, he remembered Rule #1: Keep a low profile. Jack's mind ran through possible scenarios. None of them came out well and involved everything from jail time to being unable to see Arcee ever again. Jack shook his head. "Grow up, Vince." He growled as the light turned green. Jack refused to be baited by a hothead like Vince and calmly pulled away from the intersection. "I'm proud of you, Jack." He smiled at her. "Dealing with 'Cons, you grow up quick." He said as they pulled into a parking spot in front of the school, got off after saying goodbye, and headed into the school. _You can do this, Jack. Only two other people here know about your secret._ He thought to himself as he headed to hid first class: U. S. History.

The class wasn't as bad as he thought. It must have been his enhanced…processor, but Jack could recall all that the teacher had said in his lecture about the beginning days of the American Revolution. To help make the subject more real, the teacher showed them the beginning of "The Patriot". As the war scenes played on the television, the sounds of blaster fire replaced the sound of the muskets firing. Jack blinked repeatedly to try and get the imagined sounds to leave his mind. As they did, Jack saw the teacher standing over him. "Mr. Darby, are you alright?" Jack nodded at the teacher and whipped his face. "May I be excused?" Jack asked with a tired tone. The teacher nodded kindly, and Jack quietly left his seat and went to the bathroom. Once there, Jack splashed his face with water and dried it. _Keep it together. It's just a movie._ He said to himself before he calmly returned to the class to finish it out.

In the next class, Algebra II, Jack found the work extremely easy. He sighed and took his time with the lesson but still found he was the first one done with the chapter. He then spent the rest of the class finishing the assignment for that night. Biology was the hardest one for Jack, but it still came easier than usual which was a relief to Jack because, with his responsibilities to his Mom, school usually suffered to a degree. Finally, in PE, Jack got to relax a little. That is, until he saw Vince. The school bully was itching for a fight. Readouts of the boy's vitals confirmed this in Jack's vision. He blinked and the readout vanished. _What was that?_ Jack thought a little surprised. He pushed the thought away just in time for a hard rubber ball impacted the back of Jack's head. Jack turned and glared at Vince. "I am so sick and tired of you, Vince. The same old stupid games since middle school get old quickly," Jack growled with a glare that made Vince shiver. "Payback is definitely a bitch." Jack threw the ball low and knocked Vince's feet out from under him. "Evil never prospers for long." Before the rest of Vince's gang could react, they were on the floor of the gym knocked off their feet by well-aimed dodge balls. The others and the teacher just stared at Jack in amazement. Miko and Raf were quick to come to Jack's aid. "He's been working out." Miko said as Raf added, "Yeah, and he's been working on his hand eye coordination too." The teacher nodded and said nothing more before he walked away. _Man, that was too close!_ Jack thought as he whispered, "Thanks, guys." They nodded their acknowledgement as the bell rang to go home.

As Jack walked outside, Arcee could tell something was wrong. He usually greeted her right away. Once they were down the road a bit, she asked, "What is it, Jack?" Her voice was so beautiful. It seemed to pull the words from his mouth. "First, I hear blasters going wild in my head as I watched a war movie in History. Then, I look like a teacher's pet in Algebra II, and finally, I wipe the floor with Vince and his cronies single-handedly in PE." At hearing what Jack did, Arcee's tires screeched to a halt. "You did WHAT?!" Jack could feel her nonexistent glare aimed at him. "…in Dodge Ball, Arcee. It's a game, no weapons. I promise." Jack said calmly. "I'll explain while we drive to base. I need to ask Ratchet about a few things." _And talk to Optimus about Megatron hunting me and Mom._ He added in his mind.

As they pulled up to the mesa, Arcee was summarizing what Jack had told her about the game. "…rubber balls are lined up in the middle of the court. The two teams arm themselves with these balls and attempt to knock players out of the game by hitting them. If a ball is caught or deflected by a player with his or her ball, another player is let back into the game for that team. The final objective is to completely wipe out one team with the other team winning the game?" She questioned. Jack nodded with a smile. "That's Dodge Ball in a nutshell." He said with a sigh. Arcee had an edge of laughter in her voice. "That sounds more like combat training than a game."

As they rode into the main area of the base, Jack got off of Arcee before she transformed and went to her quarters for a stasis nap. Once Jack was sure Arcee was gone, he tried to get Ratchet's attention. "Ep, ep, ep…I'm busy." Jack sighed. "Ratchet, we need to talk." Jack said as his eyes morphed into optics, then back. "Oh…I see." He said as his optics widened slightly. "What problems are you having?" The medic asked with the professional concern of a doctor. "I am hearing things, like blaster fire, in the middle of class." Ratchet nodded understandingly. "What were you doing when this occurred?" Jack looked at the medic. "I was watching a movie in History." Ratchet sighed. "Let me guess. It documented a war on Earth?" All Jack could do was nod. "That's the effects of war on the processor, I'm afraid." Ratchet said soberly. "About my processor…" Ratchet gave him a small smile. "Is it more developed than a human brain?" Ratchet nodded and asked, "Why?" "I blew through the entire Algebra II assignment for tonight's homework in fifteen minutes as if it was addition and subtraction." He said, still a little shocked by the event. He took a breath. "Then, in PE, a read out of the school bully's vitals showed up in the right side of my field of vision. His heart rate, blood pressure, O2 saturation, and respiration rate were all right there!" Ratchet tapped his chin in thought. _The boy has medic programming? How?_ Ratchet smiled as the answer came to him. "You inherited that from June." Jack was stunned. "Wait! What?!" Ratchet tried his best to calm Jack down. "When your genetic material was forged, your mother's natural talent for human biology crossed with your father's CNA and created a set of medic programs before they were installed in your processor when you needed it." Ratchet explained with a smile. Jack let out a sigh of relief. Then he remembered to ask about Subspace. Jack opened his mouth to voice the question, but Ratchet gave him the answer before he could ask. "Subspace…I'm sure you've stumbled into it by now." He said before Jack had gotten out of hearing range. He turned to the Medic. "It's a personal storage space given to all Cybertronians by Primus," Ratchet explained. "The storage space is actually connected to your Spark. Don't ask me how." He said as Jack nodded and walked off. _Now to find Optimus…_ Jack thought as he began to look for the Autobot Leader.

Jack found Optimus looking over data files on a computer much more advanced than the one Ratchet used. The mech turned to Jack when he was still a good thirty feet off. "Yes, Jack?" Optimus asked with the wise optics Jack had come to respect greatly. Jack looked at the computer and back at the mech. "It's a Cybertronian laptop. I read histories of Cybertron when I have nothing else to occupy my time." As Optimus said this, the laptop disappeared into Subspace. "Now, what is on your mind, Jack?" Jack sighed and began. "My father, I saw and spoke to him in a dream last night. How is that possible if he's offline?"

Optimus seemed to be thoughtful for a minute. Then, he sighed. "The Well of Allsparks can be tapped even though it is physically nonfunctional at this moment." Jack looked up at the mech, silently asking him to continue. "This takes a conduit of some form, though." Jack didn't know why, but Optimus looked at his chest for a moment and returned his gaze to the human. "What can this conduit be?" Optimus smiled at Jack's curious nature which mirrored the mech's own and continued. "For the connection to be specific to an individual Spark, a piece of that Spark has to exist inside the person receiving the messages." Optimus said calmly. All Jack did was nod which surprised him. "That explains something Dad told me." Jack said when he saw the confusion on Optimus' faceplate. "Also…" Jack hesitated before telling Optimus the next part. That put the mech on edge. "…Dad said Megatron would soon be hunting me and Mom." Optimus nodded. "Be very vigilant, Jack." Optimus warned. "Megatron will not give you a warning, so you must be on constant guard." Jack nodded. Yes, sir." He said calmly as Arcee walked in.

She gave him a sleepy smile and yawned. "I feel like I'm ready for anything." She said calmly. "You need to get home. It's getting late." Jack smiled but shook his head as Arcee moved to activate the Groundbridge. "We need to take the long way. There's a lot I need you up to speed on." Arcee instantly noted a serious tone in Jack's voice. That had the femme a little worried as they drove back to the house. "Turns out I probably have a Spark," Jack began. Arcee knew this. Each time they rode, Arcee's adios picked up an "echo" of Jack's heartbeat. It was a mystery to her until she found out Jack was half Cybertronian. "At the core of my Spark," Jack continued. "…is a piece of my Dad's. That's why I dreamt about him." Arcee felt his grip tighten on her handlebars. She knew he was afraid. "Jack, what is it?" His voice almost failed him, but he forced it to work. "Megatron is hunting Mom and me." Arcee felt the Energon pump faster in her body. "Nothing will happen to you or June." Arcee said that with such determination. It sounded to Jack as if she'd just declared war on Megatron. Maybe she had. "I promise, Jack."


	6. From Nameless to Known

Chapter Six: From Nameless to Known

As the Decepticon warship, _The Nemesis_ , traveled over blank dusty landscape somewhere over The Gobi Desert, Soundwave was silently reviewing the security footage of the rescue operation the Autobots had executed earlier. _That damned fool Starscream!_ Soundwave growled _. What was he thinking? The woman he captured offered no tactical advantage! He might as well have-_ Soundwave stopped his internal rant when his adios picked up something strange. He selected the portion with the conversation of interest, enhanced the audio of the conversation, and removed background noise. "Jack, go!" The Autobot named Arcee ordered him. The mech called Jack, which Soundwave thought was a moronic designation for a Cybertronian, glared at her. "Not an option," Soundwave heard the mech say with a soft glare as he deactivated Arcee's restraints and steadied her while she leaned on him heavily. "Let's find Mom, Partner." Soundwave replayed that last line just to make sure his audios were not malfunctioning. _If the mech's mother was the human…_ Soundwave left his post and went to find Lord Megatron.

As usual, Megatron was beating the slag out of Starscream. "…interrogating a worthless human?!" Megatron growled as Soundwave approached. "Master…" Starscream begged. "…I was only trying to follow a link to the new Autobot." Megatron glared at him. "What new Autobot?" Megatron questioned, calmer but his optics still filled with rage. Soundwave took that as an opportunity to present his findings. "…New Autobot." Soundwave repeated in a distorted form of Megatron's own voice before he showed Megatron the video with same enhancements he had done earlier. "So, this 'Jack' is the spawn of that traitor and the woman?" Megatron turned to Starscream. The mech flinched as he looked up at Megatron from the floor. The trembling mass of slag in no way expected what came next. "Well done, Starscream." Starscream scrambled to his peds in shock. "Thank you, Lord Megatron." Megatron glared at him. "If you operate in a similar manner again without alerting me…" Megatron picked him up by the neck and threw him into the bulkhead across the room. "…you WILL join the Allspark!" With that, Megatron walked off, contemplating how exactly to get his revenge on Jack and his mother.

As the Decepticon Lord walked off to savor his impending revenge, Jack and Arcee were on their way back home from school. Arcee knew from his body language and tone, Jack was on edge. She tried to relax him by asking how his day went. Jack smiled and laughed at that. "It was great!" he said with a wide smile. "Vince and his guys didn't even try anything today." He said with a relieved sigh. "I guess they are still nursing their broken pride from yesterday." Arcee sighed. "Don't get cocky, Jack." She warned as he smiled and kissed her tank with a smile. "How can I with you around?" He asked playfully. He then checked his internal chronometer and growled. "I'm late!" Arcee and Jack pulled into the KO Burger employee parking lot with about five minutes to spare. Jack hurried in the employee entrance and clocked in but not before he gave her handle bars a gentle squeeze.

Unknown to both of them, Vince and his buddies were just pulling up as Jack walked inside the restaurant. They all eyed Arcee's vehicle mode with malice and parked beside her before getting out. Arcee subtly moved her mirrors, so she could watch them closely just in case she needed to bolt. Vince walked up at the apex of an inverted V-formation and lightly tapped a crowbar in his right palm as he walked. Vince's underlings were similarly armed with blunt objects. One with a scar across his left eye and blood for hair had a baseball bat. Another with blonde hair, green eyes, and a fit shape had a tire iron. One with dark brown hair and matching eyes hefted a sledge hammer over his shoulder. "Humiliate me, will he?!" Vince growled as he raised his crowbar to strike. "I'll teach him!"

Jack was inside at the drive through window prepping himself for his first day on the job since his change. As he looked out the window in boredom, he noticed Vice and his gang. His eyes changed to optics and zoomed in on the scene. What he saw made his blood and Energon boil. (Ratchet had called him to the base early that morning to explain some unique aspects of Jack's biology, including the duel-pump arrangement of his circulatory system. The Cybertronian organs in his body were fed by Energon pumped to them by his Spark. A completely isolated human circulatory network supplied the organic half of his body with the normal nutrient-waste exchange it required.) He sighed and shook his head in aggravation as he signaled Damian, the only one he'd managed to become friends with. over. Once Damian got there, Jack controlled his voice as best as he could. "I have to go take care of something real quick. Could you watch the widow for me?" Damian smiled. "I got your back. Go ahead." Damian said with a smile as Jack nodded his thanks and charged out of the employee exit.

"I wouldn't touch her, you slagheaps!" Jack growled as he marched up to them with a glare. Vince turned on a heel at Jack's voice. "The little window maid wants to play?" Vince growled as he started to laugh. "Who are you calling 'Slagheaps'? Last I checked. We weren't made of metal!" Jack mentally slapped his forehead. _Damn Cybertronian slang!_ He thought to himself as he glared at them. "Step away from my bike!" One guy was ballsy enough to actually slam his Louisville Slugger into Arcee's windshield as she mentally screamed in pain. Jack grimaced slightly at seeing the spider web crack that crossed the whole of Arcee's windshield, with cracks like veins that radiated out from the impact point. Jack stood there, shaking in rage. With a yell of fury, Jack football tackled the guy who hit Arcee. As they fell to the ground, Jack's anger begged him to beat the punk's head in, but he curbed his anger and waited patiently as Vince's goons came to back up their fellow gangster. At the right moment, Jack picked up the punk by his legs and threw him into the others. "Bully Bowling," Jack said as he calmly walked up to the groaning pile of jocks. He glared at them as they looked back at him. "Anybody want to set up for Frame Two?" The goons all weakly shook their heads in fear. "Good!" Jack growled before walking away back to Arcee. Vince was almost certain it was the concussion, but he could have sworn he saw Jack's eyes change into strange robotic ones as he glared down at them.

Jack walked as calmly as he could to Arcee to keep away suspicion. Once he got to her, his voice and fists still trembling with left over rage, he knelt and whispered, "Are you ok?' Arcee managed to have a playful tone in her voice as she said, "I've made it though worse, Jack. Go back before anyone sees you." She told him. He gave her a slight nod and went back inside to the widow. "Everything ok, Jack?" Damian asked as he saw Jack come back in. "Some assholes from school tried to trash my bike as payback for me kicking their sorry butts in Dodge Ball in PE yesterday." Jack growled. "That's low, man." Damian said with a sigh as he went back to the cash register. Jack suddenly felt fear crawl up his spine. _Were the Deceptions able to pick up on my minute change?_ Jack wondered as a hand went up to his eyes.

Over the Pacific Ocean, about twenty miles south of Okinawa, _The Nemesis_ continued its tireless circling of the planet to keep hidden. Megatron was pacing back and forth in thought in his quarters as he mulled over the best way to end the abominable spawn of Hammerclaw and his human toy. Megatron's shark-tooth maw formed a twisted grin at the thought of that…thing being crushed between his servos. He was interrupted from his macabre enjoyment as he heard the near-silent peds of Soundwave approaching him before they stopped completely. The former Gladiator of the Pits of Kaon turned to his waiting, most loyal soldier. "Yes, Soundwave?" The mech's visor changed from black to a satellite map of Jasper with one Energon signature. "The New Autobot?" Soundwave just stood there. For a microsecond, there were two signals on the map. Then, the second signal vanished just as quickly as it appeared. Megatron's faceplate grew into a barbaric grin. "I've found you, little bot." Megatron growled with a twisted glee in his optics that would make The Destroyer himself cringe in fear.

As Jack was getting ready to go home, he heard the familiar scream of jet engines and hurried outside to see five Vehicons land hard on their peds. _What are they doing here?!_ Jack's mind flashed back to when his eyes changed to optics as he glared down at Vince. _Great!_ Jack thought as he searched for Arcee to no avail. "Looks like it's just me." Jack mumbled as he reached into his Subspace pocket and activated the remote. A second or two ticked by as the Vehicons searched for Jack and found nothing. Then, the squeal of tires made them look up in time to see a red Mustang with a flame job on the hood barreling down on them. The car dodged the shots with ease as Jack mumbled, "You guys are worse than Storm Troopers." Jack then jumped into his alt-mode and transformed. "You want to dance, 'Cons?! Let's dance!" He growled as he stared pounding his servos into the Decepticon drones. The drones quickly turned to their blasters when they realized he had them in hand-to-hand.

Jack smirked. "You do know my name's Trickshot, right?" He asked them with a glare as he activated his own blasters and started taking them down one by one. The commotion woke Vince, who screamed like a girl as an Energon bolt grazed him. Jack would have laughed had he not been too distracted by fighting for his life to notice. One drone managed to get behind him and was ready to sever his head when a familiar yell and a ped to the faceplate sent him to the ground. "Get your servos off him!" Arcee growled in a rage as her fist connected with the drone's head, making it go dark. "Trickshot, are you ok?" he sighed in relief and rubbed his neck. "I would have been scrap metal if it wasn't for you." He was about to kiss her when Vince broke up the moment. "What the hell are you?!"

"Slag!" Arcee and Trickshot said in unison. An idea then quickly formed in Trickshot's processor. "We are robotic life forms from another planet." Trickshot told him in a artificial voice. Vice stared in shock as Arcee caught onto Trickshot's plan and transformed. Once Vince saw the robot was Jack's bike, his face went ashen. _Just a little more to push him over the edge._ Jack thought, and he knew the perfect way to do it. He transformed back into his vehicle mode, opened the door, and got out. As he walked up to Vince. Vince stared to back away so Jack quickened his step. He leaned right into Vince's ear and quietly said, "Boo!" Vince passed out as Arcee looked at Jack worriedly. "Don't worry. According to his brain activity, he'll forget everything past me knocking him out protecting you." He said as he glanced up at her. "Let's get home. I have a lot to fill Mom in on." Jack told Arcee, slight worry in his eyes.


	7. From Defenseless to Dangerous

Chapter Seven: From Defenseless to Deadly

As Trickshot and Arcee rode toward Jack's house, a nagging suspicion kept tugging at the hybrid's thoughts. "Did that seem too easy to you?" He asked over his comm as his engines purred calmly. In truth, the fight had made him nervous. He had come so close to being offline just because he was cocky, Arcee hadn't thought about it, but it did seem too easy, especially if Megatron wanted them, more precisely, Jack. As they rode, this puzzle stayed in the forefront of Arcee's processor. As the lights began to turn on and the sun began to set, Jack found himself getting nervous. Well, nervous wouldn't really describe his feelings accurately. Paranoia would be a better way to describe his mental state as he rode home. "I'm sorry, Jack." Jack skidded to a halt when he heard that. "What?" He asked, surprised. "I wasn't there to protect you when the Vehicons ambushed you." Jack glared at her. "Optimus gave you a mission and you had to go. I understand. Please, don't worry. I'm not helpless anymore." He told her with a kind smile. Arcee sighed. "I love you, Jack. If you went offline because of something…" Jack sighed. "Stop!" He demanded as he got out of his alt mode and looked at her with an aggravated stare. "I won't go offline so easily." _That's the truth._ He promised with a firm look. When Arcee heard this, she felt better, but the worry was still there. Could anyone blame here? Jack was still a rookie, and she had lost two partners already because of overconfidence. _I'll go to The Pit before I let that happen to Jack!_ She promised herself as she held back the sadness in her Spark.

As they pulled into the garage, Jack was tense for a moment when he didn't see June. Then, he remembered her shift at the hospital. He walked into the house and sighed as he fixed himself a steak and potatoes. After he ate, sleep came to him slowly. He was just getting to sleep when the slam of the front door made him shoot to a sitting position as his blades came out on their own. Then, he heard June and relaxed enough to retrieve his blades. Something was off though. June seemed distracted. She dropped her purse and keys on the floor, hurriedly picked them up, and sighed. June couldn't get the feeling that she was being watched to leave her mind. She shook the thought away for the moment and headed to bed. Jack couldn't stand to hear her suffer. He got up and walked into the kitchen calmly. "What's wrong, Mom?"

June looked up tiredly in response to her son's voice. "It was a long day at the hospital." She said with a tired smile. Her body language told Jack there was more to it. He crossed his arms with a gentle frown. "I wish your Dad was here. He would know what to do," She said finally quietly. "I'm being watched at work." She said quietly. "I can't prove it, but I know someone is watching." Jack shivered. "Mom, I was attacked by 'Cons earlier today." Her eyes went wide. "Do you think Megatron…" She froze, unable to finish. "It's a strong possibility." Jack said calmly. His face became serious. "Mom, please be careful." The woman's face formed a small smile. When Jack gave her an odd look, she just shook her head. "It's ironic. I'm usually the one to tell you that." With that small laugh still on their lips, Jack and his mom went to bed.

As the house went dark for the night, a high pitched alien wine could be heard. In the black of the Nevada night, Laserbeak flew back to its master as the mini drone compressed the day's data into a manageable form to free up the memory required for the drone's homing program to run properly. As the drone rejoined to its master, Soundwave began the task of studying the video data for a pattern of June's routine for Lord Megatron to exploit. This data collection went on for weeks with The Darby Family or the Autobots none the wiser. Soundwave suspected such luck would not last. On the Friday of the fourth week of surveillance, Soundwave's luck ran dry.

Jack was getting out of school later that same day when Rafael looked at his computer with a confused expression. Jack looked at him worriedly. "What is it, Raf?" The computer genius looked at Jack with a worried expression. "A strange signal…" He said with a focused glare on his screen. "…it's not on a frequency that's from Earth." Jack's face went white as he remembered his past few days of paranoia. "What's the source of the signal?" Jack asked as Raphael typed away on his laptop. Then, he growled in frustration. "I can't pin it down. The signal's bouncing all over the place and only stays on a particular satellite's server for a second or two before it jumps to another satellite's systems and so on." Jack shivered at the mention of an alien program hiding in Human satellites.

Jack began to pace in thought to give his mind a chance to work. As Jack paced, he thought of his brief encounter with Soundwave. The Faceless Mech seemed to be interested in him. Of course, after his fight with Vehicons, Jack was on edge. Then, it hit him like a ton of bricks. "Megatron was testing me. That's why it was so easy." He growled. Then, his mind went back to the strange signal. "What if the signal is from Soundwave?" Raf gave him a strange look. "Really? What would be the point of that?" Raphael asked. "A drone control signal?" Jack suggested as he shook his head as he got in his alt mode before Bee and Raf drove back to the Autobot base. As Jack rode back to the Base, His paranoia was pinging like crazy. "What the scrap?!" Jack growled as he held his head in pain.

He looked back to see a small bird flying away. "Damn." He growled as his anger was released in a moment of fury. As the minicon sparked and smoked. The pain in Jack's head subsided. Arcee transformed as Jack got out of his alt mode to investigate. "Laserbeak…" Arcee growled in anger. Jack grinned as he picked up the drone. "Let's see what you're hiding, you piece of slag." He said as they entered the base. Ratchet glared down at the drone and linked to its memory. Ratchet connected the drone to a video screen, and stared playing the video on its memory. What the bots saw was very disturbing. Laserbeak had been following Jack for the entire day, even as he went to school and work. It recorded his entire day from History to PE and tailed him even into The KO Burger. Then, they saw it watch his confrontation with Vince which didn't last nearly as long Then, the dreaded passage to the Base.

When Jack saw the video files, his anger flared. "So, that's why I felt so uneasy lately." Ratchet sighed and shook his head and looked at Jack with a frown. "That's only part of the reason, but it's not the whole reason why," Ratchet said with a glare. "Soundwave's control signal for the drone interferes with your processor's own frequency." Ratchet said as he uploaded a patch to fix the frequency problem. "Thank you, Ratchet." Jack said with a smile. Optimus walked up to him. "June is probably in extreme danger. We don't know how long she has been spied on." Jack nodded with a sigh. Jack was suddenly very scared for his Mom. Optimus turned to Jack and gave him a reassuring look. "Something tells me your mother will be safe." He then turned to the Medbot. "Delete the drone's memory and send it back to Soundwave." He ordered as the Bot got to work.

At the hospital, June was busy tending to patients. She was trying to relax but couldn't. the flashbacks were getting worse. It was almost like her mind was trying to warn her of some impeding danger. As she was clocking out to go home, she heard cars race up behind her and box her car in. June just sighed and shook her head. "Long time no see, Scrapheaps." June said to them calmly as she got out of her car and glared at them. "You have no idea who you're messing with." June growled. She was about to attack them when a Groundbridge opened. Jack and Arcee jumped out of it. "Stay back, June." At hearing the femme order her around, June glared at Arcee. "I'm tired of being tormented by Deceptions!" She growled. "In case I ever needed it…" June smiled and recovered a chest plate from her backseat as Arcee looked on in shock at what June was carrying. "Is that the…?' All June responded with was a slight nod. The chest plate was clearly Cybertronian but had been spray-painted bright pink. When Arcee gave her an odd look at seeing the altered armor, June smiled and said, "I just couldn't handle the dull grey. I had to brighten it up a bit."

"Watch your Mom work." June said with a smile as she grinned and winked at her son before she activated the armor. The armor expanded and gradually covered her body until the armor encased her and made her three quarters the size of Arcee as the Bots and Jack looked on in shock. "Eat steel, assholes!" She growled as she started beating the slag out of the bots with surprising ease. "Mom…?" Jack found himself saying in shock. The woman didn't stop pounding in faceplates until there were no more drones around to offline. "Mom! How the heck did you know how to fight?" She smiled and deactivated the armor. "Eric taught me how to fight just in case. I always hoped I would never have to use it, though." She said as she smiled at him sadly. "Mom…what's wrong?" He asked as she deactivated the armor and gripped Jack in a tight hug as she trembled. "I miss him so much." She said quietly with a trembling voice on the verge of breaking down.

On a traffic cam across the street, the lens zoomed in on them and watched the exchange between the armored human and the group of robots. Following the wires, the electrical pulse controlling them coursed back to the origin of the control signal. First, it piggy backed on the satellite signal of an international communication satellite. Then, it was diverted to twelve more satellites before the last satellite sent the feed back to _The Nemesis_ where Soundwave received a bit of a shock as he watched the human rip apart the drones like they were just shorting out glitches. Soundwave watched and would have mirrored the dumbfounded look of the femme and the other Autobots if he had a faceplate. _It can't be The Apex Armor, can it?_ The mech thought in a shock as he went to find Lord Megatron. Luckily, Megatron wascoming into the communications bay. "What have you found, Soundwave?" He asked, Soundwave as the mech played the security cam video. When Megatron saw the Apex Armor in the hands of the human glitch, he slammed his servo into a nearby unlucky drone. "Things just got interesting." The large grey mech said as he folded his servos behind his back and began to pace, "This just got fun." He said with a twisted grin as he punched the feed right as June's armored head stared at the camera.


	8. Surprises and Sparkmates

Chapter Eight: Surprises and Sparkmates

Jack looked on as he felt for his mom. Jack knew that Eric was his mother's one and only. He could see it in her pained eyes as she deactivated the Apex Armor and held it as if she was trying desperately to hold on to the memory of Eric. After a moment or two, she calmed down enough to be coherent and smiled at her son. "Mom, come on." Jack said kindly as he smiled back at his mother. Jack opened his alt mode's driver door and let June get in. "What are you doing?" His mom asked with a confused look. Jack realized what he was doing and blushed. "Force of habit." He said as he facepalmed and made June laugh. With his mom in the passenger seat, Jack took off for the house.

Arcee felt a foreign sadness in her Spark for Jack's father as she looked at Jack and his mother ahead of her in Jack's alt mode. This feeling of hurt confused her. _He's a Con!_ The warrior in her processor screamed. The softer side of Arcee countered. _Jack lost his father and June lost her love._ The warrior finally ceased as Arcee thought of her and Jack. _If I lost him, I would be like June._ She thought to herself. Beneath the tough layers of seriousness and determination,Arcee was a different femme. At her Spark was a caring person. Tailgate and Cliffjumper were able to make those plates of Arcee's hard exterior jostle and shift at times, but they could never lift those protective emotional plates like Jack could. She felt safe around him in spite of this and knew he would never intentionally use his ability to reach her Spark to hurt her. With these thoughts swirling in her processor, Arcee pulled in next to Jack's Mustang and sighed as the door closed. With no one around who didn't know, Arcee deactivated her hologram and sighed as June and Jack went into the main house for supper.

On _The Nemesis_ ,Megatron was still fuming over what the pathetic organic did to his troops with just the aid of the Apex Armor. He growled with an animalistic rage in his vocalizer. "How can this be?!" He roared with a murderous glare at Starscream. The Seeker was fighting to stay in the same room with his irate leader, much less mere feet away from servos ready to snap a neck at any moment. "Master, Soundwave has been able to crack the encryption codes for The Iocon Database!" Megatron leaned toward Starscream as his mouth went from a brooding and twisted scowl to a deadly grin. "How? We haven't been able to break it in countless stellar cycles!" He said as his faceplate returned to a deep frown. At this, Starscream did something that took Megatron by surprise. The cowardly Seeker smiled. "It seems the traitor Hammerclaw put a crack in the codes wide enough to get in long enough to retrieve coordinates for The Apex Armor." Megatron raised his left servo, gripped Starscream's head, and threw him into wall as the Lord of the Deceptions. "I know that! YOU DARE CALL ME A FOOL, STARSCREAM?!" Starscream trembled as he faced his master. "No, Master! I was simply telling you how Soundwave was able to finish breaking in."

At this, Megatron hurried down to the communications hub. "Soundwave…" Megatron asked as he noted a set of coordinates already decoded. "…what weapon of Decepticon might have you uncovered?' In response, the main screen filled with schematics for a blaster-like weapon. As Megatron's optics scanned the description, they glowed brightly with glee. "This will certainly be a nasty shock for the Autobots. Send a detachment to retrieve it with Skyquake as the squad commander." Soundwave simply nodded but thought, _Skyquake is offline._ In spite of his doubts, Soundwave found Skyquake's life signal and bridged the loyal fighter to _The Nemesis._ Megatron smiled at the circle of slight purple coloring around the edge the mech's optics. After having his orders given to him, Skyquake nodded. "You'll have The Sonic Disrupter in your servos in a short time, mighty Lord Megatron." He said with a bow before he left with the troops. Megatron just smiled as his self-aware puppet stepped through the Groundbridge.

Back at the Darby household, Jack was nervous. He wouldn't be able to explain why if asked. Something just felt uncomfortable to him as he tossed and turned in his bed that night. As he was finally about to drift off to sleep a few hours after he got in bed, his comm rang. It was Optimus. "Autobots, report to base immediately!" _Scrap!_ Jack's tired mind growled as he got dressed and hurried to his alt mode before he quickly caught up with Arcee. Jack sighed. "This better be important!" Jack said to Arcee tiredly. "Do you think Optimus would call if it wasn't?" She snapped back. Obviously, neither took rude awakenings well.

Trickshot and Arcee pulled into the base about thirty minutes later and transformed with glares on their faceplates. "Sorry to wake you at such a time," Optimus began. All looked around for Bulkhead and Ratchet. Then, the atmosphere of the base changed from aggravation to fear. "It seems the Decepticons have access to The Iocon Database." As he said that, optics around the room widened, except for Trickshot's. "What's that?" He asked, feeling really stupid. Optimus simply continued, adjusting for the question. "The Database is a storehouse of information on relics from Cybertron's long history." Trickshot shivered as he realized the implications. "The relic they found is called The Sonic Disrupter. Bulkhead was sent to retrieve it only to be ambushed." Optimus said as he stepped away to show Bulkhead's mangled casing as Ratchet worked on the bot. "The relic vibrates Energon at resonance, so it explodes inside the body when hit by a blast from this weapon." Ratchet explained, shaken by the consequences of such a weapon as he worked to repair Bulkhead. "Stay on guard, Autobots. Megatron is more powerful than ever with the knowledge of Iocon at his disposal." With that said, Optimus dismissed everyone.

Jack rode home in his alt mode and shivered at what he had seen at the base. He was taken out of these dark thoughts when he heard Arcee on his comm. "That won't be you." She told him calmly with a fierce determination in her voice as if she could read his mind. He let a small smile pass his lips at her reassurance, but that reassurance brought a new worry to his mind which he quickly silenced by vowing to himself that he wouldn't let her be offlined by that weapon. As they pulled into the garage, Arcee was thinking about why she could almost read Jack's mind. _Were the old legends about Sparkmates true?_ She thought to herself as Jack said goodnight to her and headed to his room

Once Jack's head hit the pillow, he was out instantly, but it took what felt like a few seconds for the dream to begin. Jack was surprised to find himself in the same blank dreamscape again as a familiar figure walked up to him. "Hello, Dad." He said calmly ass he looked around, confused. "What do you want to talk about?" Eric laughed and shook his head at his son. "You, Arcee, and I need to talk." He said calmly. Jack looked at his father like the Cybertronian had a burned out processor. "This is my head and my dream!" He said as he looked up at his father. " How am I supposed to bring her here?!" Eric's grin just widened. "If my hunch is correct, just think about her."

As Arcee was enjoying a shutdown, she was suddenly brought to a white "room". She readied her blasters and glared at two figures in the distance. "Arcee!" The femme turned towards Jack's voice in shock and suddenly saw him next to her. A small chuckle reached Arcee's audios. As she looked up, the face of a mech met her optics. She glared and pointed her blasters at the mech. "Relax, 'Cee." Jack told her gently as he put a hand on her leg. "Cee, this is my Dad, Eric." Jack said nervously. Then, the hybrid steeled himself. "How was I able to bring Arcee here?' Arcee couldn't help smiling as she realized where she was. "Jack," she told him calmly. "We are bonding as Sparkmates." She said happily. Jack gave the femme a confused look. Eric decided to pick it up. "Being Sparkmates is the Cybertronian equivalent of marriage but goes much deeper than legal union. It is the union of mind, Spark, and body." At hearing this, Jack stared in shock between his dad and Arcee.

"So, why couldn't you do this with Mom?" Jack asked. His father sighed to let Jack know that he had just hit a deep wound for his father. "Primus knows I wanted to, but she didn't have a Spark. We couldn't because of biology, but I could still and did partake in your marital customs to make June happy." He said with a sad smile as his optic gained a faraway look for a moment before he returned to his son and Arcee. "How do we…" Jack gestured to Arcee and himself as Arcee's cheeks flushed with Energon at what Jack was about to say. Luckily, Eric stopped Jack from embarrassing Arcee any further. "I'll let her tell you." Eric said as he too began to blush. Jack just nodded as the dream started to dissolve.

When Jack woke up, he was late for school. "Slag!" He growled as he checked his internal chronometer and flew around the room getting everything squared away. _What a weird dream._ Jack thought. He was startled when he heard Arcee in his head. _It's better than the blank mind I have while in shutdown or stasis._ Jack's face turned ashen. "How are you in my head?!" He yelled. _I'll explain on the way, and I'm not in your head. We're just speaking telepathically._ She said as if reading a person's mind was a normal, everyday thing. As Arcee explained on the ride to school, Jack kept checking his comm to see if it was malfunctioning. When he decided it wasn't, Jack sighed with a broad smile. _Now, I don't have to worry about you, Cee_. He felt her smile as they pulled up to the school. "It's nice to know you do worry about me, though."

Meanwhile, in the medical bay of _The Nemesis_ , the Decepticon physician Knockout was fusing the latest of the Decepticon acquisitions to Megatron's cannon. When Knockout was done with the procedure, Megatron was quickly brought out of stasis. "How do you feel, my liege?" Knockout asked as he backed away from the large mech. "Knockout!" Megatron growled. The medic jumped at the sudden summons. "I will feel better when I test my weapon modifications on that hybrid abomination!" He growled in anger before he fired on an unlucky Vehicon. At first, the bolt only knocked the drone down. A second or two later, the drone exploded. Megatron turned to the medic. "Very nice work, Knockout.' He said with a twisted grin before he walked out.

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	9. Tests and Trials

Chapter Nine: Tests and Trials

Jack sighed as he walked into school for another day. _This will be…interesting._ Jackthought as he entered the school. His teachers were well aware by now of his "secondary PTSD" from his Dad's days in the army, so it was no big deal for him to leave class suddenly. That was the cover story his mom and Fowler had put together for Jack's seemingly erratic behavior of leaving suddenly when Optimus called him on a mission. It had taken so many joint meetings with various people from teacher to principal, but Fowler and June had gotten him cleared by the school to leave when Jack was needed by Team Prime. Jack only prayed that would be the case today. His status as a Class A Nutjob only pushed him down lower on the food chain of high school.

Having forgotten their encounter with the Vehicon soldiers, Vince and his buddies were back to driving Jack up a wall. "Do you jerks have anything better to do?" Jack growled. "Maybe, if you concentrated your energies on schoolwork instead of trying to beat me up, you wouldn't have to supplement your self-esteem by bullying." Jack checked Vince's vitals and saw they were steadily rising. _Good,_ Jack thought. _He won't be able to fight effectively angry._ Jack smiled and quickly dodged a punch by rolling. The steamroll punch Vince sent Jack's way slammed into the solid steel locker behind Jack. Vince's jacket sleeve shot up his arm with the force of the hit as Vince's hand swelled, turned blue, and showed its unarticulated bones through multiple compound fractures in Vince's hand. "You might want to get that looked at." Jack said to Vince calmly as he just whimpered in response. After that, Jack continued to U. S. History.

By the time he made it to class, the news that he had bested Vince had spread. Sierra winked at Jack. He felt a twinge of anger. "Calm down, "Cee," Jack whispered to the two-wheeler aloud through their still fragile link. He heard her sigh in his mind and took his seat calmly. The teacher was speaking about The Civil War and had since stopped showing videos because of Jack's moderate PTSD and did not want to risk triggering an episode. Of course, this got him in trouble with his classmates because they had to do more work instead of relaxing with a movie. Today, that wouldn't matter anyway. After a short period of lecture, the teacher handed out tests as most of the class groaned in response. Jack was one of the first four done with the test, but out of consideration for the other students, he just turned his test over and waited a little longer to turn in his test. As he put his test on the teacher's desk, the teacher gave him a kind smile.

As Jack was walking out of the class, Sierra smiled at him. Jack rolled his eyes. _Great!_ Jack thought, angrily. _Now that I have a girlfriend, she's interested._ Jack sighed as Sierra jumped in front of him. "Wow. That was awesome You beating up Vince was pretty cool." Jack knew where she was going with this. Since Jack had outsmarted Vince and earned the bully a broken hand in the process, he was now The Big Man on Campus and her prime target of adoration. "Listen, Sierra," he said with a mild glare. The glare took the girl completely of guard. "I don't play your games. I know what you are, and I also know what you do." Her shocked expression slowly turned to spiteful hate at Jack's words. "What makes you think you know me?" she spat out. Jack sighed. "You date the top dog at school until he is dethroned. Then, you go after his successor.' She growled in anger, pissed at Jack. "What are you thinking?!" She shrieked, "How can you reject ME?!" Jack sighed in aggravation as he felt eyes around them lock on him. "I have a girlfriend, you attention whore!" Sierra blinked and backpedaled as if she'd been slapped. "I hope that bitch can make you happy!" Jack felt his blasters almost surface but held them back. "You take that back!" Sierra just grinned. "Make me!" She said as she shook her ass at him. He just shook his head, and though it took most of his will to walk away without hurting Sierra, he managed.

The rest of his day went relatively well until PE. It was time to play Dodge Ball again, but this time, it was the entire class, minus Raf and Miko, against him. Raf looked at Jack worriedly as they got lined up. Jack sighed. "Over the course of the day, I managed to piss everyone in our class off." He said as he, Raf, and Miko dove for munitions. As the three of them fought, Jack and Miko struck up a calm conversation as balls flew around them. "I've…" Jack ducked under an incoming ball. "…been wondering. How is Big Green?" Miko smiled as she jumped over a ball. "He's getting better." Miko said with a relieved smile as she batted away a ball with her own. Raf was surprisingly battle equipped. Jack noticed and smiled. "Medium Yellow has been teaching you." Raf rolled out of the way of a ball to his knees before he nodded at Jack with a proud smile. The class was a little surprised to find their numbers slowly depleting with few, if any, returners. Jack heard Miko giggling and looked at the girl, confused. As Miko took out Sierra, she explained. "I wonder how Petite Blue would take Sierra's little move." Sierra was instantly interested, Jack noticed as her head shot up when Miko mentioned Arcee's codename among the three of them. "She probably wouldn't take it too well." He said calmly as Sierra paled. She found herself freaking out. _Was this mystery girl of Jack's a Drill Sergeant?_ The girl thought as she tried not to show how scared that thought made her. Jack shook his head as the last person on the other side of the field looked at themtrembling in fear. Jack smiled at Raf. The boy computer genius smiled, took aim, and took out the last person.

As they walked out of the school, the three humans were in high "Nice shot, Raf!" Miko said with a smile. He sighed. "Thanks. It seemed the training is paying off." Raf said as he got in Bee's passage seat. Miko was overjoyed to see Bulkhead waiting for her. "Hey, Bulk!" Miko said excitedly. As she was about to get in the Wreaker's passenger seat, she noticed Vince with his hand wrapped and in a sling surrounded by his entourage. "Jack heads up." She said calmly to get Arcee to stop talking as the group of goons made it to him. He glared at them, more annoyed than truly angry. "You've got some nerve, Darby!" Vince growled as he reached for a blade and flipped it out. Jack just stared at his opponent calmly. Jack stared down Vehicon drones on a regular basis. A six foot and some change punk with a knife didn't scare him. In fact, he had to stifle a laugh in his throat. "What did I do now, Vince?" Vince glared at him. "You broke my hand then you stole my girl!" Jack sighed, got off, and walked up to the jock, not intimidated in the least. "She came onto me, jerk!" Vince glared daggers at Jack as his buddies grabbed Jack's arms and held them behind him as Vince scrapped his blade against Jack's cheek. Miko was about to get out to help Jack, but Bulkhead locked his doors. "Don't even think about it." Bulkhead warned with a smirk hiding in his voice. Miko couldn't help it as she noticed Bulkhead's tone and smiled devilishly as she waited for the show.

Jack looked at the guys holding his arms and smiled as they looked at him in shock. Jack then grabbed Vince's knife and threw it away. 'Didn't your mom ever teach you not to bring a knife to school, Vince?" Vince looked at him, red-faced. "Leave my mom out of this!" Vince growled as he tackled Jack. The hybrid simply pushed himself out of Vince's resulting bear hug, slowly as to make use of the intimidation factor such an action would have on Vince's underlings. As he pushed his way out of Vince's grip. Jack elbowed him and scrambled to Arcee. As Jack was putting one leg over Arcee's saddle, the Principal walked out. "What's going on here?" He asked as he glared at Vince and his gang before his gaze softened on Jack. "Sir, Vince thought I was after his girlfriend and threatened me with a knife while his goon squad held me back. I broke free and simply defended myself." Jack said with a calm demeanor as the Principal nodded and hauled Vince back into the school.

"That was certainly interesting." Arcee said with a sigh as they rode to Base with the others. "Yeah…" Jack said with a sigh. "…I'm sorry." He said quietly. Arcee was surprised. "Why?" She asked, confused. "I'm sorry I ever used you to impress Sierra." He said shamefully. "What is it you told me when I felt like I was guilty toward you? It's in the past, Partner. Don't worry." As they talked, she noticed a car pulling up behind them quickly. "Jack, we've got company." She warned him as Jack leaned forward. They took off like lightning. The car kept pace with them. Only one car could do that. The horns on the red Challenger's hood mad her Spark ache. _'Cliff?!_ She thought ad the pain brought her to a halt. The car in question sped up, transformed, and almost flattened Jack and Arcee. Jack rolled off Arcee to the asphalt below as she crossed her arms, and her blades blocked the kick. "How could you?" Cliffjumper's voice startled Arcee, but she reminded herself of the monster Cliffjumper's shell had become because of the Dark Energon. She pushed her pity aside as she saw a large wielding scar across Cliffjumper's midsection and angrily attacked the shell that at one time was her best friend.

As Cliffjumper and Arcee fought, Jack couldn't help grinning as he watched her fight. She was a beautiful fighter, graceful yet deadly. Then, it happened. She began to tire and almost caught a blow to the face. Jack reached into his Subspace pocket at seeing this and called his alt mode with the keyless remote. The roar of an engine grabbed the monster's attention and drew it away from the fight as Arcee landed a kick to the best's faceplate. "Arcee, I've never know you to call for backup." Jack smirked at that, jumped in his alt mode, transformed, and gave the monster a servo to the gut. "She's learned quite a lot since you went offline, Slagheap!" Jack growled as he glared into the monster's purple optics. Arcee smiled at Jack as a silent thank you. The Terrorcon wrestled free of Jack's grip and shrieked in anger before it lunged at him. The best was too fast for Trickshot. One of the Terrorcon's blades connected with Trickshot's midsection as Energon and blood started seeping out from the gash. The monster grinned darkly, threw Trickshot's wounded body to the ground and set its fragged optics on Arcee. Before the monster could even touch her, Jack glared weakly at the monster in Cliffjumper's casing before he fired at it with an angry growl until the Terrorcon fell to the ground, its Dark Energon spent.

The others heard the fight and came racing back just as Arcee finished the Terrorcon for good. "What happened here?" Bulkhead asked in shock as he stared at the lifeless body of Cliffjumper. Trickshot shivered. "What was left of Cliffjumper's processor tracked Arcee and attacked when she lest expected it." Trickshot growled in anger weakly as Arcee ran to him worried. "Ratchet, we need a Bridge and Med Bay!" Arcee yelled into her comm. In response, the Bridge opened. Bee and Bulkhead hefted Trickshot through the Bridge and laid him on the medical berth gently. _"I thought Dark Energon made zombies."_ Bumblebee said, clearly confused. Raf pushed his glasses up. "Maybe it takes time to fully reactivate the processor." The boy suggested. At seeing Jack, Ratchet got to work. "Everybody, get out!" Ratchet glared at Arcee when he saw she wasn't moving. Then, his expression softened when he saw her and Jack's servos laced together. "Get me nineteen units of Energon." He then noticed the blood deeper in the wound. _Slag!_ The Medbot growled in his mind as he called June. Luckily, she hadn't left the hospital yet. "Nurse Darby, Jack was wounded and I-" It was then Ratchet heard the line go dead. About ten minutes later, June's car tore into the base. The car didn't stop completely, and June was already up the medical berth with IV bags full of blood and the other supplies need to start a transfusion.

As luck would have it, being a hybrid gave him an accelerated healing factor. Not as fast as Wolverine's but still superhuman. Once the blood transfusion started, Jack was healed completely by the next day. After burying Cliffjumper's remains completely, Arcee shivered and looked into Jack's eyes as worry crept into her mind. _Will war take Jack from me, too_? She would have never owned up to it, but the thought scared her. Reading her thoughts, he hugged her and said. "I won't go to The Allspark willingly if it means leaving you here alone," Jack promised softly.

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	10. Dreams that Dare Disaster

Chapter Ten: Dreams that Dare Disaster

Arcee smiled at Jack as he told her that he would never let anything happen to her. Strangely, Jack was extremely tired that night and decided to turn in early because of it. On the way home from the base, Jack couldn't help but think of Megatron's latest weapon: The Sonic Disrupter. Jack always thought that even in war there were rules, unspoken, but rules nonetheless. _I don't think Megatron cares about fighting with honor, Jack._ Arcee told him in his mind with a sigh. "That's what worries me, Cee." Jack said mournfully. "Cheaters always win." He mumbled. Arcee looked up at him with an invisible glare from her alt mode. "We will win, Jack," she said confidently. "Figuring out how to beat him will be difficult, but we will find a way." She said with the hint of a smile in her voice as they pulled into the garage. "Good night, Arcee." Jack said with a smile before he went up to his room

As Jack drifted off to sleep, he hoped to see his dad again, but what he got was something much stranger. In the dream realm, Jack found himself on a ship of some sort. The walls were covered in organic sludge. Pale light lit the room he was in dimly. As he took in his surroundings, Jack noticed something familiar but, at the same time, strange about the craft. Its walls were Decepticon grey for the majority of the color. The rest was a mix of sickly yellow and florescent purple than lined the corridors and ceilings in a strange organic material that seemed to be all over the ship, as if _The Nemesis_ was infected by an organic plague. As Jack walked down the hallways, his blasters hummed to life in preparation for a fight.

Jack froze when he suddenly heard movement and pressed his body against the wall in an effort not to be seen. As Jack looked around the corner to see what was moving, he gasped. It was a giant flea! The thing was at least ten foot tall and was accompanied by a small army of what reminded Jack of dirty cotton balls with spider legs. Jack glared at the monsters and jumped from cover "Eat Energon!" He growled at them with a glare as his blasters ripped into the evil cotton balls. Right as Jack thought he was winning; the flea-like creature exploded and released more cotton balls and miniature Vehicons that were mangled and walked like zombies. Jack shrugged and just kept firing until nothing moved.

As Jack was walking away from the firefight, Jack hit his knees and saw a hologram of Arcee. She was whimpering as if she was crying but her face had this lunatic smile on it that would make The Joker bolt in terror as the hologram rocked back and forth before leaving his sight. Jack glared at the beasts coming at him. These were sharper and more angular in design. As they saw Jack, they transformed and started shooting at him. Jack just sighed in annoyance and blew through the monsters with a glare. He didn't have time for this. Arcee was in trouble and she needed him. Nothing was going to stop Jack from getting to her.

As Jack butchered wave after wave of these creatures, his anger kept rising. It would get so high that during the "hologram episodes", Jack was surprised he didn't wake up. Sometime later, Jack's sight rumbled as a voice growled at him. "Come get your precious Arcee, little soldier." Jack glared at the semi-organic mass that invaded his mind. "Megatron, you will die for this!" Jack growled as he ran across the ship and slaughtered infected left and right until he came to a massive door that could have only led to Megatron. Jack steeled himself for what he might find and entered. The…Thing Jack saw on the other side made his stomach turn. "Megatron" wasn't Megatron but a seemingly completely organic mass. The creature only vaguely resembled Megatron's body shape but was twisted and horribly misshapen. "Claim your prize, little soldier," it mocked before it batted him across the room with a sneer. The monster then extended a tentacle which had Arcee in its grip. "Jack," Arcee managed, though her voice was very faint. "Go!" Arcee pleaded weakly. Jack then noticed the right upper quadrant of the femme's face. It was masked by a dark yellow blotch that seemed to be growing as the mass fed on her. Jack took careful aim, but when he fired at the monster growing from Arcee's faceplate, she flinched and screamed like a cornered animal. "She is nothing but an animal. Leave, human. Your Love is nothing but a shell." The monster growled as it laughed at Jack.

As that monstrous voice echoed in Jack's mind, he shot awake as sweat beaded down his body. Terrified, he called out to Arcee through their link. She answered with an action that sounded as if she was heaving down breath. _Jack…what was that horrible thing?!_ "My fear…" He responded aloud as he started to get ready for the day in an attempt to get his mind off the horrid nightmare. He was walking down to the garage when Jack finally checked the time in on his internal clock. _0330._ Jack thought to himself as a glare formed on his face. Then, he got an idea. As he walked out to the garage, Jack snuck into June's room, took her Groundbridge controller, and left a note. "Time to end this." Jack growled to himself as he walked out to the garage to see Arcee staring at him in anger. "Do you know how stupid and slagging insane you are?!" She asked as she glared harder at him. Jack glared back at her. "This war is slowly killing you and the other Bots." Jack told her as his voice shook with a whirlwind of emotion. "It's time someone took the head of this snake."

He was about to get into his alt mode, activate his mom's Groundbridge controller, and drive into the mouth of The Pit alone when Arcee parked herself behind him. "Where do you think you're going?" She asked with a slight irritation in her voice. Jack sighed. "I was-" Arcee transformed. "I still out rank you." She said with a sly grin. "Either I go with you, or you don't go. Understand, Trickshot?" She asked as her expression became serious. Jack nodded from inside his alt mode. "Let's do this!" Jack growled as he opened a Groundbridge to _The Nemesis_.

As they stepped through the Groundbridge to the other side, Jack was instantly on edge because it was the same exact area where the nightmare started, minus the organic goop on the walls. "Now, let's get moving!" Trickshot growled. "Keep your head on." Arcee said calmly. Trickshot kept himself under control but grinned when he noticed a camera and fired something at it with an audible *pop!* Trickshot smiled as he saw the camera go down for a split second before it came back up. _Nice job, 'Shot._ Arcee thought sarcastically as she shook her head at the seemingly pointless action. Trickshot smiled. "Raf rigged it up. It feeds a worm into the system that puts all the cameras connected to the system on a loop." Trickshot explained as they slipped past the cameras. "Thank you, Raf." Arcee said with a relieved smile.

Up in the Communications Hub of the ship, Soundwave sat in front of the monitors and saw something hit a camera just before the ship's entire system reset. _Strange…_ The Mech thought as he got up and went to investigate. The Mech was startled when he saw two Autobots on the ship headed straight for him. Arcee noticed Soundwave and started blasting him. Soundwave charged her and started spinning. His blades overpowered Arcee's guard stance and threw her into the far bulkhead as Trickshot tackled The Communications Specialist. They went down and tumbled in a mass of spinning metal. Trickshot took advantage the glaring weakness in Soundwave's visor and tried to send his servo straight through the visor. Soundwave's head bounced off the metal floor from the force of Trickshot's punch, which turned the visor white with cracks. As Trickshot got off a now blind Soundwave, Arcee laid into The Silent Mech with a barrage of blaster fire. "Let's go, Trickshot." Arcee urged as they pressed on through floods of Vehicon drones summoned by Soundwave to aid the fallen warrior.

"Well, that cut down on possible hostile contact through the rest of the ship." Trickshot said calmly with a smile on his faceplate as Arcee just shook her head at him with a sigh and a small smile as she looked at her Sparkmate and leaned over him. Jack/Trickshot wasn't prepared for what happened next. His chest and the suit's hatch opened to reveal a glow that overshadowed his heart. Arcee blinked in shock at the blue pulsing sphere in Jack's chest. "Jack…your Spark It's so beautiful!" She told him with a smile. As Jack and Arcee kissed, both felt their Sparks merge before retreating back into their respective bodies and resealing themselves safely inside. "What was that?!" Trickshot managed as he stood up. Arcee smiled. "Our bodies and Sparks have bonded. We are now truly Sparkmates." She said with a smile.

Blaster fire returned Arcee to the mission at hand. She turned to see Cons surrounding them. Trickshot engaged his blasters while Arcee fought with her blades. After they turned the ambush party to a scrapheap, together Arcee and Trickshot marched into Megatron's throne room. The warlord was beyond shocked to see a femme and the hybrid mongrel glaring back at him. Instead of waiting time in a pointless superiority speech, the Leader of the Decepticons grinned and laughed as he readied his enhanced cannon. Trickshot tackled Megatron to the floor and ripped away Megatron's arm cannon as the latter screamed in a mix of rage and agony. Before Megatron could recover his lost weapon, Arcee blasted it to smithereens. "That was for my Dad." Jack growled. In a fit of rage, Megatron jumped Arcee. At seeing this, Trickshot gripped Megatron by his shoulder plates and threw the bewildered Former Gladiator of the Pits of Kaon into the wall so violently the ship shook.

As Jack caught his breath, Arcee called in. "Ratchet, we need a Bridge." In response, a vortex opened. Once they set peds back on base, Arcee and Trickshot faced June's burning glare. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! JACKSON DARBY, SO HELP ME-" Jack sighed, jumped out of the suit, and hugged June in hopes that it would at least curb the woman's wrath. "I couldn't sleep, so we decided to take out Megatron's weapon." June gasped and glared at her son. "That cannon's on his arm." Jack kissed his mother's cheek in an attempt to sooth his mother's anger. "…and we succeeded, Mo- June.' Arcee was relieved that she caught herself. She would have to remember to watch out for that until they told June everything.

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	11. Secrets and Suspicions

Chapter Eleven: Secrets and Suspicions

As Jack looked up at Arcee, his mother got a sneaking suspicion that more happened on the ship than was alleged by her son. June never had a reason to distrust her son, but with his newfound freedom as a part-time Bot, she was worried. For now, she put those thoughts in the back of her mind and concentrated on her son. Jack was no longer a boy she could coddle; June knew that much, but something about this didn't seem right to her. From what Hammerclaw had told her of Megatron, the fight between he, Arcee, and her son seemed too easy. She was broken from her thoughts by Arcee. "June," the two-wheeler said. "Once Jack and I destroyed Megatron's cannon, we called a Bridge." Jack walked up and smiled at his mother comfortingly. "We didn't give Buckethead time to attack us, Mom." June nodded and started toward her car. "I'll have supper waiting when you get home." June said with a smile before she drove away.

Arcee looked down at Jack and sighed. "You know you just lied to Mom out of your aft." Arcee said with mild aggravation. Jack could see the question in Arcee's voice as she said that. "I did it to keep her from freaking out, Arcee," he told her. "After what happened to Dad, I don't want her to worry about losing me too." Arcee shook her head at that as they walked to her quarters. "She's your mother, Jack. She will always worry." Jack looked up and nodded solemnly. "I just wanted to ease her fears." He said as he jumped on her berth without thinking. Once Arcee sat beside Jack, it clicked in his mind. _I guess being half Cybertronian has its advantages._ He thought to himself. Arcee returned Jack to the subject at hand. "She already suspects something." Arcee said calmly. Jack nodded in agreement. "How do we tell her?" He asked. "Is it as easy as 'Hi, Mom. I have a relationship with Arcee, and by Cybertronian standards, we're married.'?" He asked with a sigh. Arcee looked at him. "It wouldn't be the relationship that's the problem," Arcee said calmly. "It would be how far our relationship has gone."

As they were talking, a ship was coming out of superluminal space into the Sol System. The ship matched an old Wrecker's ship named _The Jackhammer_ , but its lone occupant's optics peered, two blood red points of light, into the darkness of space between the ship and Earth. "My Liege," The unknown mech called out. "I have just entered the Sol System. I should be on Earth in a matter of hours." Megatron's twisted laughter could be heard on the other end. "Good. You know your orders, Enigma. Gain the Autobots' trust. Then, strike!" Enigma smirked as his pates shifted and changed to a perfect copy of Wheeljack. "As you wish, Lord Megatron." The mech said with a dark smirk as he approached the dirt-ball of a planet. "It won't be long now and I'll trip the Autobots' sensors." Enigma growled, very pleased with himself.

Jack smiled at Arcee calmly and was about to say something when they heard Bulkhead yell out in happiness. Arcee rolled her optics. _Great. Another Wrecker._ She thought as Jack laughed to himself before they walked to the Ops Center together. "…yeah, it's been pretty boring out here, Bulkhead. I was thinking about coming in for a little while." Bulkhead was ecstatic. "Yeah, Jackie. Those 'Cons won't know what hit 'em when you show up to the party." Enigma chuckled. "Yep. It'll be like old times." He said before he cut the connection. Jack couldn't explain it, but he knew something was wrong with the situation. Exactly what, he had no idea. _I will find out though._ He promised himself. Arcee smirked at her partner. "Late night recon?" She asked with a smile. He just nodded with a slightly worried look on his face. "I've got a bad feeling about this." He mumbled to himself as he and Arcee went home for a recharge before the mission later.

That night, around 0230 hours, Jack and Arcee put their plan into motion and slipped out of the garage. As they rode, Arcee rehearsed the plan. "We rendezvous with the ship and case it for tracers." "Then…" Trickshot added. "…if it turns out Cons are trying to trick us, we trade paint before the imposter can get to Base." Jack smiled to himself. _This ought to be a cakewalk._ He thought. He then scolded himself. "Treat every mission like it is the most deadly mission ever." He told himself as they rode off to the beacon. Once Arcee and Jack came up a rocky cliff, they saw _The Jackhammer_ in the middle of the desert in the low-lying area below them. Arcee was immediately nervous. "Wreckers know better than to put their ships in plain view." She mumbled as her blasters hummed to life. She was about to scout the ship when Trickshot transformed and stopped her. "Let me go scope it out, 'Cee. I'm not known to off-world Decepticons like you are." He reasoned. Arcee looked at him with worry in her optics. "Call for backup when you need me, Jack." She said with a calm but stern look. Jack silently nodded and moved toward the ship with absolute caution.

What Trickshot saw when he got to the ship was an utter mess. "Primus! What happened here?" Trickshot mumbled as he saw the ship's interior in disarray. Exposed and sparking wires, seats chewed to bits, and a busted control dashboard made the ship look like a miniature war zone from the inside. "Damn, looks like mice had a field day in here…if they ate metal." Arcee heard that and got scared. "Jack, get out of there! The ship's infested with Scraplets!" Trickshot's helm scanned the room as his audios tried to pick up the smallest sounds within the ship. With the exception of buzzing from the console, all was quiet. The young mech didn't like this one bit. If Scraplets did invade the ship, they should have been all over him by now. That's when he heard a groan behind him. He turned on the sound in a flash to see an Autobot lying on the floor with Energon dripping from his mouth. "Arcee! We got a live one!" He yelled. As Arcee came down, Jack scanned the Cybertronian. Enigma smirked to himself. _That medic trainee will never find my emitters._ The 'Con thought to himself. Jack stared hard at the readouts on his HUD, but they made no sense. Add to that the lack of injuries from the supposed Scraplet attack, and Trickshot started to get nervous.

As the two Autobots helped Enigma to his peds, he grinned darkly and threw them to the dirt. Quickly rectifying the resulting dust cloud in his optics, Trickshot blasted the imposter in the back of his right ped. The Decepticon fell with an angry scowl on his faceplate. "You will pay for that, you slagging piece of scrap!" The 'Con growled as he glared murder at Trickshot. Then, he looked at Arcee with a sick grin. "…and I think I know exactly how to collect." Fury flooded Trickshot's faceplate. He then stood in front of Arcee and just gave Enigma a "Come and Get It" Motion with his servo. They clashed in a torrent of screeching metal and traded blows in a vicious brawl. One punch Jack was agile enough to catch. Trickshot just twisted the articulation between Enigma's right servo and his arm. The articulation groaned in protest as Enigma's faceplate betrayed his anger and pain. Trickshot's faceplate showed an anger and determination that rivaled Arcee's own when she fought Airachnid. Finally, the servo snapped away from its owner's arm with a metallic ripping noise. "Don't ever think about it, you pile of slag!" Jack growled as he stared into Enigma's terrified optics.

Unknown to any involved, a car rolled up to the cliff and observed the fight with mild fear as the person watched the Titans contend over the femme on the outside of them. She watched as the red mech beat the Pretender into submission. When the Decepticon threatened to Bond with the femme, the red mech lost it. The woman was amazed at the Autobot's brutality. _Only one thing could make a mech lose his processor so easily._ She thought as the mech reminded her of her love: Hammerclaw a.k.a. Eric Darby. Her husband was extremely jealous but not obsessively so. She could remember one particular instance when she had taken a wrong turn one night while driving home from the hospital. She ended up in a poorly light and rundown section of town that looked to her like gang central. A man came up to her window and glared at her as he pushed the gun in her face and demanded she get out of the car or be shot. The would-be carjacker didn't know what he was doing when he tried to take her car, but Eric had taught that man a lesson the hard way. The carjacker was in a full body cast for the next year in half. Her husband was jealously protective, and she saw the same thing in this mech. Then, it hit her. The femme was Arcee! She smiled to herself as the pieces fell into place. As Arcee and Trickshot Groundbridged back to Base, June smiled to herself and drove back to the Base to wait on them.

Jack and Arcee were in high spirits as they brought in the Pretender. Once Optimus and the rest of Team Prime were awake, they were stunned at the prize prisoner that was brought before Optimus. The Boss Bot let a small smile pass his lips as he noticed a certain human female enter the Base. "Ratchet, disable the prisoner's weapons and give him a dose of Energon." Ratchet was a little taken aback by the order. When Optimus saw Ratchet's hesitancy, he smiled and kindly looked the grumpy bot optic to optic. "We are not savages, Old Friend." He reminded the reluctant Medic with a smile. "I will interrogate The Pretender." Arcee was surprised when she heard this because she was usually the lead interrogation officer. Optimus gave a slight chuckle when he saw her surprise and sidestepped to reveal June. "I believe you and young Jackson have more important matters to discuss." Jack's first thought at seeing his mother was: _Oh, slag! I'm dead!_

June smiled and sat down on a couch in the human area of the Base. Arcee was wondering what this could be about. Then, she realized June knew. _This is going to be The Pit._ She thought with a groan. June sighed and tried to defuse the tension between them. "I'm not angry, just curious. How long has this been going on?" She asked calmly. "It started for me a few months ago when Jack discovered he wasn't completely human." Arcee told June as her cheeks took on a blue tent. Jack sighed. "I can't really tell you when it began for me. All I know is I love her, Mom." He said as he smiled up at Arcee. June could sense a cohesiveness between her son and Arcee that she never really noticed before. It was almost like… Her mind froze in shock as it made the connection. "Have your Sparks bonded?" This took both Arcee and Jack by surprise. June decided to explain. "I'm not a complete stranger to Cybertronian customs. I did marry your father after all." She said to Jack with a smile. All Jack could do was nod, beyond stunned that his mother was taking this so well.

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	12. Chats, Claims, and Children

Chapter Twelve: Chats, Claims, and Children

As Arcee, Jack, and June were talking in the human area of the Base; Optimus calmly lead Enigma to an improvised interrogation room at the end of the hallway that led to the individual quarters of the Autobots and sat the silent prisoner down in an oversized chair while stasis cuffs held the mech's arms together behind his back. Enigma took note of the poor lighting in the room and smiled to himself. "A little dark for an Autobot interrogation chamber…" The Decepticon observed as he started to try and pull his arm with the missing servo out of the cuffs but was surprised when he couldn't. Optimus instantly was aware of the prisoner's movements to free himself. Optimus was calm and collected as ever. "Do not attempt to free yourself. The cuffs are magnetically bonded to your plating…" Optimus calmly waited for Enigma to introduce himself, but the Pretender didn't comply. All he did was sit silently, patiently studying the Autobot Leader.

"All I wish to do is talk," Optimus began. "The cuffs are simply for my protection." Optimus then laid his servos on the table between them gently with his digits interlaced. "I am not going to give you anything, Prime!" Enigma spat at Optimus. _The Pretender is tense, uncomfortable with me. I need to get his guard down._ Optimus thought. "Do you have family?' Optimus asked. This question caught the Pretender completely off guard. "I had a wife that went offline on Cybertron." Enigma said. When he realized what he had just told the Autobot Leader, the Pretender was stunned. He was even more shocked by the reaction Optimus had to the statement. The Bot looked saddened as if he too had lost someone dear. "Who was she?" Enigma asked calmly as he smiled at Optimus. The Autobot Leader shook the sadness from his mind and said, "She was named Elita One." Enigma smiled darkly and mimicked Elita's voice. "Help me, Optimus! Why didn't you save me?! Why did you abandon me?!" Optimus' chassis shook with rage. Enigma smiled sickly, leaned into Optimus' audio receptor, and whispered "Here's my little secret. I…snuffed out…Elita's Spark!"

Optimus stared at Enigma with the rage starting to climb as the Autobot's optics narrowed and glared into Enigma's Spark. The 'Con felt a shiver ride down his back. He then smiled and looked at Optimus with a gleam in his optics. "The big, bad Optimus Prime has a weakness after all." Enigma chuckled darkly. "The last words from that pathetic femme were 'My Sparkling! No!'" Optimus' optics burned with fury. His dreams of being a father were forever dashed by this…this monster! Worse yet, Optimus had no idea his Elita was going to have a Sparkling. "I will offline you for what you've done!" Optimus growled as he threw the key to the cuffs at Enigma. "You may have no honor and destroy innocence. I, however, do not! Time to end this!" Optimus growled as he batted the table between them away. Enigma smirked and started transmitting what he was seeing to Soundwave. An audible *ping!* in Enigma's comm told him that Soundwave had received and was recording the data.

Megatron was pacing in his quarters when a drone came to his door. "Lord Megatron," The mech turned and glared at the drone. "WHAT?!" The drone trembled at his master's fury. "Soundwave has something in the Communications Hum you'll want to see." Megatron walked out of the room and punched the drone into the wall. The drone flickered for a moment or two then went dark. Megatron stormed into the Hub and was about to rant at Soundwave for wasting his time, but the Lord of Decepticons froze in his tracks when he saw murderous blue optics. When the mech moved away so his head and upper chest were in view, Megatron could barely believe his optics. "Optimus…angry?!" The Former Gladiator of Kaon felt his faceplate form into a gnarled grin as he looked at the expression on his former friend's faceplate. "Not angry…" Megatron amended to himself. "…Prime is furious!" Soundwave, play it back. Let us see why the Prime got irate." As Soundwave started the video feed again, Megatron's smile only grew.

Arcee and the rest of Team Prime were startled when they heard a loud crash that sounded like metal scrapping against the wall. When Team Prime showed up to the interrogation room, none could believe what they saw. The Decepticon was on the floor. He was leaning like a ragdoll into the wall as Optimus, consumed by rage over the loss of his love and Sparkling, drilled into the Pretender with punch after merciless punch. "You took her and my child from me! By Primus, I swear you will join the Allspark!" Before Optimus could deal the finishing blow, a large green and silver servo gripped the punch firmly. Optimus, don't." Bulkhead's deep voice pulled Optimus back from the fog of rage. "Th-thank you, Bulkhead." Optimus said as he tried desperately to calm himself. "Get The Pretender to Ratchet, Bulkhead." The 'Con smiled. "My name is Enigma." He said. "It is nice to know that under all that thick plating is a weak mech who couldn't save his wife or Sparkling." Optimus closed his optics and meditated on the sweet face of his Elita One to keep his anger at a minimum while Bulkhead escorted Enigma to the medical bay to be patched up by Ratchet. As Optimus looked at his servos in fear of what he'd almost done, the slender servo of Arcee reached up and touched his left shoulder plate.

"You want to talk?" Arcee offered with a smile. Optimus looked at her with a grateful smile and nodded. "It was many stellar cycles ago. I was still Orion Pax." He said with a wistful smile as he began to reminisce. "I met a beautiful femme. She could make the stars wink out in jealousy at her beauty." He said with a sigh. "I don't think young Jackson sees you much different than I saw her." He looked away suddenly as if reminded of a painful memory. "We were Bonded mere solar cycles before The Great War broke out." He then got up and looked at the wall as a flood of emotions came to the usually stoic Prime anew. His voice caught as he said the next part. "I remember the day her Spark flickered out. I was organizing supply raid plans for our troops when it hit. The pain made me drop to my knees as in screamed her name in utter agony as my Spark shattered." He said as he looked back at Arcee. "I knew what happened but didn't want to believe the reports at first when her name came up on the casualties list. Then, I swore to avenge her death and my child's by offlining the slagger responsible." Arcee could truly feel for Optimus, but she pushed the thought away. "Come on. Let's go." Arcee said with a kind smile as they walked back to the main area of the silo.

Jack was on edge ever since the Decepticon climbed onto Ratchet's exam table. Jack normally wouldn't trust a 'Con anyway, but this one unnerved him. Jack walked up to the 'Con close enough to the Cybertronian to get a good look at him and try to figure out why. Jack got his answer when he say two downward sloping "wings", like the ones on certain military badges, around the Decepticon insignia like his Dad had in his Cybertronian form. "You served in my Dad's unit." Enigma spotted Jack and started laughing. That is, until Jack unsheathed his arm blades in view of the mech. Enigma's optics went wide. Then, they settled into a simmering glare. "I heard rumors that Hammerclaw betrayed us. I would have never guessed it would be with a filthy organic." Jack's eyes started to glow faintly. "Don't insult my mom." He said calmly as he glared at the imposing mech. Enigma tried to deploy his blades to cut the binding straps that held him to the berth but soon realized they were disabled. Enigma glared at his bonds and used his hate for the techno-organic beast to fuel a massive bust of strength that enabled him to tare through his restraints.

Then, the Decepticon saw June and turned his rage on her. Jack was ready for that and charged at the mech before leaping and slashing at Enigma's optics with his own blades. The Decepticon let out a cry of pain and slammed his servo into Jack. The hybrid sailed across the room and hit the wall with a sickening *crack!* As Jack slumped to the floor, Arcee went into a controlled rage. She attacked Enigma with a speed and ferocity that seemed impossible. The mech was skilled, however, and managed to dodge some attacks. He got off a few lucky hits as well, but the hit that brought Arcee to her knees wasn't even the strongest hit The Pretender gave her. As he was clearly starting to fatigue, he landed a blow to her silvery plated abdomen. The hit sent her to the ground. The fact that such a weak hit could bring Arcee down stunned the femme. As Enigma was about to land what looked to be the deathblow, Bulkhead shook himself from the gravitas of the fight to slam Enigma through a waiting Groundbridge programmed by Raf to a random destination.

When Arcee collected herself and saw Jack, she ran to him as she feared the worst. As she knelt by him and gently picked him up, her Spark skipped a beat happily. Her fear and sadness melted away as she saw her love's eyes open slowly. "*groan* I'm glad my bones are reinforced with Cybertronian alloy." He said as he tried to laugh but grimaced as pain shot through his body. Jack then took on a puzzled look. "What is it?" Arcee asked a little worried. "I'm not sure, but I think my audios were busted when I hit the wall." He said as she laid him on a berth. "I hear my Spark, yours, and an extra one." Arcee froze as she processed what Jack was implying. Ratchet smiled. "Just to be sure it's not your audios…" He said as he grumbled something about "upstart medics" and scanned Arcee. Ratchet's jaw tried to hit the floor suddenly. "Arcee, you're pregnant!"

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	13. Found and Fighting for Family

Chapter Thirteen: Found and Fighting for Family

Jack and Arcee stared at Ratchet in shock as the color drained from his face. "W-what?" He asked in shock as June walked up with her hands on her hips. "Oh slag…" Jack grumbled. "Arcee is pregnant." Ratchet said again calmly with a warm smile. Jack's eyes widened. He began to sway in the berth as if he had been drinking. Then, he passed out from the news. June walked over and glared at her son's body. "When you wake up, Jackson Darby, you will be in a world of trouble." She said as she walked away to calm down.

Arcee looked at June, confused. "I thought having a child brought happiness, not anger." She said as she walked over to June. The woman sighed. "Outside of wedlock, the circumstances are different." June tried to explain. "I'm happy for the both of you. I'm just disappointed in Jack." Arcee blinked in confusion, so June took that as a signal to elaborate. "'Bonding', as you would call it, has been considered the sacred act of a wife and husband for millennia on Earth." Arcee nodded. "Cybertronians have a similar belief. Only true Sparkmates can bond. Even before that happens though, the mech has to have approval from his father to bond with a femme." At this, June started to understand. "Jack had to get OK from Eric before…" Arcee nodded and continued to explain. "The first Spark Bond between Sparkmates is the most sacred as it unifies them in the optics of Primus." She said with a soft smile. June sighed. "I'm just worried about Jack. He's only sixteen." The worried mother said with a sigh as she looked at the blue femme. Arcee smiled. "Ever since he learned the truth, I think he's grown up even more." She said to June. "He's ready; he's just scared like any prospective father."

While Jack was out cold, he and Eric had a chat. Jack shook his head as he walked into the by now familiar white space of his dreamscape of his unconscious mind. Eric was beaming in his human form at his son. "I guess you know." Jack said nervously as he looked up at his father with a small smile. "Don't be scared, Jack. You will make a wonderful father." Jack was clearly surprised by this. "How do you know?" The scared father-to-be yelled at Eric. The Pretender just smiled. "Would you do anything to protect Arcee and the Sparkling?' Jack nodded firmly. "I would give my Spark to save them if I had to do it." He said with no hesitation. Eric smiled at Jack when he heard his son's declaration. "Like I said, you will do fine." Eric said with a smile. "What about the things I don't know?!" Jack said as fear permeated his face. "Anything you don't know, you will learn. You will also have your mom and me to help you." Eric said to his son with a smile. "You have nothing to worry about, Jack." With Eric's words echoing in Jack's mind, the dream began to fade.

Jack woke up with both Arcee and June looking at him. He thought the looks on their faces were odd. They were both smiling contently. Jack could understand why Arcee was happy, but he thought his mom would be furious. The deadly look on her face just before he fainted from the news told him he would be dead when he woke up. The surprise must have been evident in his face. "Don't worry, Jack." June said with a smile. "Arcee explained while you were out. Just to be safe, you need to get a wedding band." June suggested. Jack nodded. "That would look bad if I didn't have a ring but had a kid." Arcee nodded understandingly.

In the darkness of a mine in The Grand Canyon, blue optics pierced the dark and looked around on the rows of Energon crystal. This Cybertronian was largely pink and white. The Cybertronian's body shape suggested femme, and she had a small mech standing by her. He was primarily red with blue peds and white accents on his plating. The child looked up at his mother. "Mommy, can we try again?" The boy asked excitedly. His mother nodded tiredly and walked to the mouth of the cave carved in the cliff side. "Can anyone hear me? This is Autobot Beta Strike Commander Elita One. Does anyone copy? Over." The small mech smiled, put a small digit to his audio just like his mother had taught him. "Daddy, if you're out there, come get us, please."

Ratchet was monitoring communications when Elita's plea came over the speakers. "Elita, this is Autobot Outpost Omega One. What is your status?" Elita was stunned when she heard that response. "Ratchet! It's great to hear your voice!" She said happily. "I am in a bit of a situation. We have plenty of Energon, but evac would be appreciated." She said with a smile in her voice. The little mech sighed. "Ratchet, please come get us, please." Ratchet smiled when he heard the child's voice. "Don't worry, little mech. We'll send someone to get you." Ratchet said with a kind but unseen smile. He cut the connection and looked around the room.

"Optimus! Optimus!" Ratchet yelled as he looked around the base. Optimus was talking to Jack and Arcee. "Don't worry. We're all here for both of you." Optimus was saying as Ratchet sprinted up to them." We have a situation." All heads turned to the medic. "What is it, Ratchet?" Ratchet put his servos on his knees as he tried to calm himself. "We just got a communication from Elita and a child." Optimus was instantly skeptical. "I know what you're thinking Optimus…" Jack said as he looked up at the mech. "…but Ratchet did say she had a child with her." Optimus looked at Jack and Arcee. "What would you do if you were in my situation?" Optimus asked. Arcee sighed. "I would be cautious but would jump at the chance to be reunited with Jack." She said calmly as Jack nodded. "We have a rescue mission then." Optimus said with smile.

"I will carry the mission." This stunned the Bots. "Sir, what if it's a trap set got you?" Bulkhead asked. Optimus smiled and turned to Jack. "I would like you to come along if you're willing, young Jackson." Arcee was about to step between them when Jack gave her a calm look. "I'll be fine. Don't worry, 'Cee." He smiled as she lifted him up to optic level. "You trained me." He said before he kissed her calmly. She nodded worriedly and thought, _If you join the Allspark, I will find you and drag your aft back._ Jack just laughed at her. "Like I told you, don't worry." He said as the Groundbridge hummed to life. "I'll be back. I promise." With that, they went into the waiting vortex.

When they crossed the wormhole, Optimus and Jack were met with two angry blasters wielded by a very protective mother. "How do I know you are Orion?" Elita growled as she stood between the Prime with a strange human at his side and her boy. "How do I know you are not some trick?!" Optimus stopped when he saw his child and knelt with Energon tears in his optics. "Can I see him?" Prime asked with a smile. "Who are you?" The small mech asked as he hid behind his Mom. "Look at me, little one," The Prime said with a kind smile. "Then, look at yourself, and tell me what you see." The boy did what he was told and started to cry softly before he looked at Optimus, ran to him, and hugged the Autobot's leg while he screamed, "Daddy!"

Elita wasn't so easily convinced and drew her son back behind her with a deadly glare aimed at Optimus. "If you are Orion, what was our favorite pastime?" Optimus was confused by Elita calling him by his former name but went along with it by telling himself it was processor damage during the fight with Enigma that wiped her memory of him as a Prime. Optimus sighed happily. "We would lie under the night sky and stare at the stars…" Elita raised an eyebrow at this, but Optimus wasn't done. "…and I would compare you to them." Elita stepped back a moment in disbelief. Then, she jumped into Optimus' arms and kissed him with innocent longing. "We have a lot of catching up to do, my love."

She was about to elaborate when the femme looked down, saw Jack, and sighed. "Who are you, organic?" "I am Jack Darby, ma'am, Honorary Autobot." She glared harder. Jack glared right back up at the femme, meeting her optic to optic. She shivered when she noticed Jack's optics. Then, Elita leveled her blasters at Jack. Optimus quickly got between them as a Groundbridge opened. "We can catch up back at base." Optimus offered. Elita held her glare on Jack as the boy recognized it. The look the femme was giving Jack now was similar to the look Arcee gave him when Airachnid had told her about the wounds he'd given her. "My father was a Pretender, and Mom is human." Jack told her calmly.

Over the walk back to base on the Groundbridge, Elita explained that she did go offline during that battle with Enigma, but she met Primus who saw her resolve to stay online for her Sparkling and granted her request. This request would come at a cost, however. She would not remember Optimus, only Orion Pax, until the two were reunited. She then told of stowing away on _The Nemesis_ before she fled the Decepticons and gave birth on Earth. At this, Optimus turned and smiled at the young mech before picking him up and asking, "What's your name?" The boy beamed. "I'm Crossfire." He said with a childish laugh.

That's when they heard a strange blast behind them. Jack activated his suit and glared back toward the opening of the Bridge to see a large purple Cyclops Decepticon stomping toward them. Jack felt a twinge of fear and worry enter his Spark as a single name and a command entered from Arcee's mind. _Shockwave…RUN!_ Trickshot ignored the command and stood his ground. Shockwave gained speed as he got closer to the four Autobots. Trickshot transformed and rammed the Decepticon with all he had. The 'Con was sent toppling end over end, but Trickshot wasn't done. While Shockwave was still disoriented, the hybrid laid into the Decepticon Science Officer with an anger he'd never felt before. "You...DO NOT…ATTACK CHILDREN!" Trickshot growled as he started ripping away Shockwave's plating like it was tissue paper. Elita knew what was coming next and shielded Crossfire's optics as Trickshot blasted off the mech's head, picked up the body, and threw both out of the far Grand Canyon end of the Groundbridge.

After the fight when the four exited the Groundbridge safely, Elita smiled as Jack was quickly swamped in a hug. Arcee glared at her Sparkmate. "Why would you be so foolish, Jack?!" The pissed off pregnant femme growled at him. "I was protecting a family." He said calmly with a disarming smile. She seemed to calm down at this, but a little worry still lingered in her optics. "Shockwave is bad news. Cliff and I had a run in with him during our trip to Earth." Jack looked at her with a slightly confused expression. "If the vortex collapsed while he was inside, couldn't he connect to the energy fields of Groundbridges and control them to an extent." Arcee pales as Ratchet nodded and said, "If he survived the portal collapse, theoretically, it would be possible." Arcee paled as she thought of a Decepticon with the ability to appear inside any vortex, regardless of its affiliation. Jack smiled and hugged her happily and put a hand on her face to calm the worried femme. "He's not a threat anymore." Jack said calmly as he looked into her optics.

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	14. Specters of the Past

Chapter Fourteen: Specters of the Past

Arcee smiled at Jack but shivered as a question rose in her mind: _Could he be wrong about Shockwave?_ The blue femme thought. After all, Cybertronians, especially Decepticons, could take a serious beating and come back for more. Megatron was proof enough of that. The thought that the shark denta Con still was online even after being microns from a catastrophic Spacebridge failure made Arcee shiver. Jack looked at her worriedly as she sat him down on the floor. As Jack looked back up at her, he saw a familiar faraway look in her optics she had when ghosts of the past were haunting her and put a hand on her leg. "If I'm wrong Arcee, I'll be ready." He said as he looked up at her comfortingly. _That's what worries me._ Arcee thought. Jack wanted to respond but held his tongue. Instead, he simply said, "Come on, 'Cee. Let's go home."

Later that night as Jack lay in his bed, he began to dream. This dream was strange. Instead of the white dreamscape where Jack and his Dad would talk about the day's events, tonight was filled with an internal room in _The Nemesis_. Jack tensed and tried to move but found himself restrained. As Jack struggled, he picked up a laugh that he instantly recognized. "Megatron…" He said calmly. The voice that came from Jack was not his own but his father's. "Hammerclaw, your loyalty has been questioned by certain of your fellow Pretenders." Jack felt himself, or rather, his father smile. "Your underlings are less than trustworthy, Megatron." The Pretender said. "I will fix that." Megatron told him as he let out a disturbing smile. "By the way, Hammerclaw…" Megatron said casually. "…do you know where your pet is?" Hammerclaw's voice came out as a roar. "SO HELP ME PRIMUS! IF YOU HURT JUNE…" Megatron smiled, and Hammerclaw knew he had just given Megatron the reaction the deranged warlord was looking for. Hammerclaw didn't portray the fear Jack was able to feel from his father until Megatron brought June into view. She was in an airtight cage and Megatron relished in the fear that was in Hammerclaw's optics. "There are better ways to torture someone than just kill them. The pain would be over much too quickly." Megatron said with a twisted grin as he turned to the Decepticon Medic. "Knockout, begin the procedure." Knock Out turned to his superior, stunned. "But, My Liege, he isn't-" Knockout was interrupted by Megatron's booming voice. "Do not question me, Knockout!" The last thing Jack heard was his father's screams. The last thing Jack saw was a ghostly image of Soundwave's visor.

Jack woke screaming his lungs out and in a cold sweat. His mother was in the room almost instantly. He could feel Arcee jump awake and transform so fast she didn't notice the garage ceiling. Arcee's helm scraped the top of the ceiling as her blasters warmed up. She looked around slowly and, once she was satisfied the garage was clear, called out. "Jack, are you ok?" To her mild surprise, June answered. Because of the fear she was feeling from Jack's Spark, Arcee knew what had happened before June told her. "He had a nightmare, Arcee." Arcee then asked Jack through their link, _Was it about your Dad?_ Jack's voice was shaky, even in the teen's mind which worried Arcee greatly. _M-my Dad i-is Soundwave!_ Once Arcee heard that, she urgently called to June. "Activate your Bridge remote. Jack needs to see Ratchet ASAP!" June was confused as the urgent tone in Arcee's voice but didn't question it.

Once Arcee, Jack in his mother's arms, and June arrived at Omega One; Arcee quickly filled Ratchet in on what had happened to Jack. "Mrs. Darby, lay Jack on the exam table." Ratchet said with an edge of concern that June recognized as the tone of medical uncertainty in the medbot's voice. "If what you tell me is true, Arcee, you must use your and Jack's Bond to enter Jack's mind and convince his father to remove the memory from Jack's processor, or he could remain in stasis lock." June was instantly furious. "You're telling me Eric showed Jack something that scarred his…" She then realized what Eric had shown Jack and glared at Jack's body. "You promised me we would never tell him!" June yelled into the air as her eyes took on a slight blue glow. Arcee didn't waste time asking why that had just happened. She was too worried about Jack to care at that moment.

As Arcee laid down on the medical berth beside Jack, she let her mind slip into his. What she saw was not what she expected. Arcee was on _The Nemesis_ or appeared to be, and Jack was strapped to a table that was standing upright. "Get out of me!" She heard Jack screaming over and over. Then, she saw Soundwave torturing Jack, HER Jack. She ran and tackled Soundwave to the ground as Jack groaned in relief. "You hurt Jack, and I'll send you to The Pit for it!" She yelled as she began to beat Soundwave senseless. "Jack…" The Mech said slowly as Jack reached toward the voice of his Dad. Arcee ripped Jack out of the shackles and stared into her love's eyes. They were milky white as if Jack was blind. "Jack, you have to listen to me." She said to him, her voice thick with emotion. "None of this is real, Partner. Come back to me." She then brushed a digit across his cheek tenderly.

The moment was broken when Arcee felt a wing-blade slam into her back. She turned around to face the threat and glared at Soundwave with so much hate. "How could you?!" She growled. An artificial voice came from Soundwave's visor. "I am an Agent of the System." Arcee glared at the Communications Specialist and began fighting him blade-to-blade. "I guess I can call you 'Smith', Soundwave?" She asked with an icy glare. Soon, it became apparent that Soundwave's speed and agility had been heightened by the Dreamscape. He moved so fast that his motions were blurred like successive still shots taken while the camera was moving. Arcee smiled at the scene and mumbled, "Fitting for a dream…" She then matched Soundwave move for move and grinned as the Con blurred to Jack's side and put a blade to his neck. Arcee used her Bond with Jack to freeze Soundwave and readied her blaster. "Dodge this, Motherfucker!" She growled with a pissed off glare as she fired a blaster bolt into Soundwave's head.

As the Con fell to the ground, everything turned into a blinding white as if Jack's mind was purging data. Arcee sighed with relief at seeing everything go back to normal and ran to Jack once he was pulled out of the nightmare and into the familiar white of his calm mind. She scooped him up and kissed Jack gently. Jack stopped when he heard someone clearing their voice. The sound made him happy but also made him nervous. Why the sound of his father clearing his voice made him nervous, Jack couldn't figure out. Jack turned to see Eric getting up. He patted Arcee's shoulder and smiled tiredly. "Thank you, Arcee." He said with a kind smile. Eric then turned his attention to Jack. "When you wake up, Jack," He said with a sad tone. "Tell your Mom I'm sorry." Eric said calmly. Jack shrugged but nodded. "I will Dad." He said calmly as the dream started to fade.

Jack slowly sat up with a pounding head as he groaned. June ran to her son and hugged him tight. "I thought I lost you." June said as she looked up at Jack and saw him blushing. "Mom, why are you so worried? I was just sleeping." Jack checked his internal chronometer and received a shock. "I was out for over eighteen hours?!" June nodded. "Do you see now why I was worried?" Her tone made Jack instantly regret downplaying her reaction when he woke. "Nurse Darby," Ratchet interjected. "Don't be too hard on him. It appears that his processor had been in power down according to its own records." June smiled. Then, she had a terrible thought. "What do you remember about the time that you were asleep?" She asked with a hint of fear in her voice. "Dad wanted me to apologize to you for something. Exactly what about or why he wanted to apologize, he didn't say." June nodded understandingly. "It was something I and your father argued about before you were born." June told him with a contented smile.

Jack looked down and noticed a gold heart locket around his mother's neck that he had never noticed before. His internal medical protocols screamed at him that something was alive in there. "Mom, what's that?" Jack asked as he pointed to the locket. "Your father gave it to me." She said with a smile. "He said it was so I would always have a part of him with me." Jack nodded. "I guess Dad was a sucker for being romantic." He said with a chuckle. Arcee smiled and looked down at Jack. "He's not the only one." Jack smiled at that but thought. _Arcee, we need to go on a drive, so we can talk._ He told her. Arcee turned to Optimus, who had been silently observing the entire time, and said, "Jack and I need to patrol." She said to the Prime, who looked at Jack with a hint of worry after the ordeal he'd just watched Jack go through. Elita walked up and smiled at her Sparkmate. "Let them go. I'm sure they need to discuss some things just between themselves." She said with a smile. Optimus nodded, knowing the value of privacy with some matters. "Report back if you find any Decepticon activity." He ordered. Jack and Arcee nodded in tandem before Arcee transformed and shot off out of the mesa with Jack.

After they had ridden a few miles in silence, Arcee asked. "What did you want to talk about?" Jack let out a long sigh. "Mom and Dad are hiding something." The words sounded so alien to Jack. His Mom had always told him everything. It was not like her to hide things and that had him worried. Arcee smiled. "They are trying to protect you Jack." She said gently. "It's like what I told you when we first met. 'I don't exist.' I was protecting you from scrap I thought you didn't need to get into." She told him. Jack could tell Arcee was holding something back. _You too?_ He thought, hurt. Arcee simulated the action of taking a deep breath. "While I was in your head while you were out, I saw what they were protecting you from. You did too, and it broke your mind. That is what we are trying to keep from happening again." She said to him. Jack nodded, satisfied with that answer.

As they were riding back to Base, two Jet Vehicons screamed overhead. "Looks like we get to have some fun after all." Jack said as he dismounted, and Arcee transformed. The two 'Cons landed hard. "Soundwave wants the human. Hand him over." One said as he readied his blasters. "Over my offline chassis!" Arcee yelled as she shot at them. They dodged her shots and got closer. Arcee engaged her blades and fought hard. Jack fought a smile as he heard car engines roar behind them. _Ambush…_ Jack thought as he held up his hands in mock surrender. "I give up! Just please don't hurt her!" Jack said as he went to his knees and silently reached for his remote. As one of the Cons grabbed Jack, he activated the remote, and Jack's Mu7stang knocked the 'Con that was holding him off his peds. Jack fell toward his alt mode. The suit encased Jack as it fell back to Earth. Trickshot then rolled to a knelling position and started firing. The Cons fell like dominoes. After the slaughter was over, Trickshot keyed his comm. "Bulkhead, we need cleanup." He said with a smile.

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	15. One Betrayed All Banished

Chapter Fifteen: One Betrayed, All Banished

Optimus tossed and turned in his berth that night as his mind played tricks on him. He kept hearing Elta's screams as he found himself in the ruins of a city. The sky was dark, and the only light was generated by the periodic stabs of lightning as it arched across the blackened sky. "Elita!" The Last of the Primes [Author's Note: The Primes correspond to the Apostles of Christian Theology. They were called by Primus (God). Megatronus (Judas Iscariot) betrayed the others. Optimus (Paul) was "as one born out of due time".] called across the dead landscape. All that came to his audios at first was the silence of death that now filled Cybertron since it had gone dark. Optimus hung his head in sadness as the thought of Elita's body rusting in a Primus forsaken hole somewhere.

Optimus was shaken from these thought as a small sound came to him. At first, Optimus couldn't recognize it. Then, as the sound continued to grow in his audios, Optimus realized it was Elita and ran toward the sound. When the Leader of the Autobots got there however, he received a nasty surprise. Elita was under rubble with…herself standing over her?! Optimus' processor worked overtime to make sense of this. The voice of Elita rang out from somewhere. "Poor Optimus…" The voice spoke sarcastically. "…which to shoot and which to trust?" The voice said before it started laughing at him, but the laugh became deeper and darker. "Yes, Optimus! Choose!" The voice, now clearly Megatron's, demanded. Optimus stared into the optics of the two Elita's and shot at the one with purple optics.

Optimus jolted awake and looked around the room quickly. He was safe in his quarters, but something was off. Then, it hit the mech like the impact from a overcharged blaster. _Where was Elita?!_ The mech thought as he slowly got up. He walked to the doorway and halted when he heard Elita's voice. "…infiltrated the Base," she told someone on the other end of her comm link. "The cloning equipment on _The Harbinger_ has served its purpose. Send the detonation code." She waited for a response and cut the connection. Prime couldn't believe his audios! He stepped out and made it a point to be heard. "What are you doing up at this cycle, Elita?" He asked her calmly. "I got up when I heard you screaming my name and left the room to calm myself down." She said to him calmly. The real _Elita would never leave me when I needed her._ Optimus thought as he powered up his blaster and stuck it in "her" back. "Turn around…slowly, Imposter!" The Cybertronian turned and smiled at Prime as his holographic shroud melted away to show the faceplate Optimus had come to hate. Yes, I did say hate.

"Enigma!" Prime growled as his optics narrowed. Enigma just smiled. Prime tried his best to not bash the Pretender's head in. Enigma's smile widened. "I can tell by your angry yet perplexed expression. You want to know how I pulled off this 'bait and switch', as humans call it." Sadness and rage battled it out in the Prime's optics. Enigma watched with sadistic glee before rage etched itself onto Optimus' faceplate. With a yell, Prime slammed Enigma into the wall so hard, it roused the others, and they came running with blasters drawn. "The gang's all here. How nice." Enigma said as he looked to his left and spat Energon. He then began. "I used blank Protoforms to make a clone of myself, and CNA profiles in The Iocon Database to make the Sparkling you hoped for…" He got in Prime's face. "…but never had." He smiled and laughed. Prime would have pummeled the slagger right there, had Bulkhead not been able to restrain him. "Go ahead, Prime," Enigma encouraged. "Do it! Reinforcements are on their way to level this pathetic base as we speak."

Ratchet's optics widened as Bulkhead and Bumblebee jumped over the others and burned up their tires as they raced out of the base to pick up Miko and Raf. "Arcee!" Ratchet yelled. "We are Code Thermopylae. I say again. We are Code Thermopylae!" As Ratchet said that, the scream of jet engines could be heard overhead. Ratchet and Prime hurried to the Groundbridge and put in two different destinations. One for each of them. As Optimus walked up to his portal while he heard Decepticons bombing the mesa from above, he mumbled quietly to himself. "Arcee, keep June safe." Ratchet's optics widened a fraction. He wasn't even sure if Optimus was aware of his statement. The Medbot decided to keep that to himself as he went through the final portal.

Arcee and Jack woke to the code word echoing in their comms. Jack shot awake and grabbed an emergency book bag with essentials like a change of clothes in it. "Mom!" Jack yelled as he looked at her worriedly and shook her awake. "We've been made, Mom. The Cons overran Omega One!" Wasting no time, June grabbed a similar bag and a First Aid Kit before she followed Jack to the garage. "Where are we going to put our bags?" June asked as adrenaline made it difficult for her to think. Jack just smiled and put their bags in his Subspace compartment. As they were getting on Arcee to leave, the ground shook behind them. Jack rolled his eyes and got in his Mustang. When the car whirled around, so that Jack could see who was about to blast them, shock rolled over the hybrid's face.

"Soundwave…" Jack said calmly as he glared at what once had been his father. _Arcee, get Mom out of here!_ Jack could sense the Arcee wanted to argue. _You and Mom are too important to me! Go!_ Arcee held her tongue and blew a hole in the line of drones. Before the drones could react, Arcee was already tearing up road to get out of Jasper. Soundwave silently glared at the drones. They got the message and followed Arcee and June. As Trickshot got to his peds from his alt mode, the music from Luke and Vader's final duel began to play in Trickshot's head. _Fitting…_ The young mech thought as Soundwave and Trickshot clashed. The Spymaster was fast, but Trickshot had learned from his previous encounter with Soundwave and was able to dodge most of the 'Con's strikes. "If you say it…" Trickshot wasn't able to finish the thought as Soundwave lunged. Trickshot rolled but forgot momentarily about his size before he smashed into a house across the street in the process.

As Soundwave closed in on the Autobot, a normally mild pain in Soundwave's Spark chamber erupted into a searing agony. Soundwave stumbled but pushed the pain aside. Trickshot used this momentary weakness to get to his peds. As the pain dulled back to its normal ache, Soundwave's fury returned with a vengeance. Soundwave was a blur of motion in his attacks, but thanks to Arcee's rigorous and continuous training, Trickshot was able to keep pace with his father.

Meanwhile, Arcee and June had their hands and servos full with the drones Soundwave had sent their way. No shame on the mother and femme though. With the help of The Apex Armor, June and Arcee made short work of the drones Soundwave had sent. After the slaughter, as June was repacking The Apex Armor, she sank to her knees, and the gold heart locket around her neck began to glow. Arcee knelt by June and looked at her worriedly as she watched the woman try to catch her breath. "Are you ok, June?" The Autobot asked. The woman looked up and smiled. "Jack is getting to Eric." Arcee looked at June confused before it hit her. "The locket acts as an artificial Spark and is bonded to a piece of Eric's inside it?" June just nodded tiredly.

Back in the middle of Jasper, Trickshot and Soundwave continued to fight, but Soundwave was beginning to slow for some reason Trickshot couldn't figure out. As they smashed through the KO Burger building, Soundwave played a recording of Jack as he told Arcee, "I hate this place. Why can't the Cons wreak it for once?" Trickshot laughed aloud at that but thought it was a strange thing for Soundwave to play during the middle of a life or death brawl. The thought of why continued to bug him until he remembered his Mom's warning about how Eric worked there to make a little extra when she was pregnant with Jack. Jack held his blades in an "X" as Soundwave came down on Jack hard. "Dad, I know you're in there! I hear you." Jack said calmly as he felt Soundwave's pressure against Jack's guard stance slack up slightly. Jack continued to push and felt he was making slow headway, inch at a time.

Arcee and June were on their way back to Jasper in spite of Jack's insistence because June knew this might be the only chance she would ever have to get Eric back from Megatron. She wasn't going to let that chance slip away. Arcee transformed and took a position a block away from the fight as backup just in case this went to slag. June inched closer under the protection of The Apex Armor. As June got closer, the locket around her neck began to glow, and Soundwave was soon brought to his knees in debilitating stabs of pain. On the asphalt now, helpless and writhing, Soundwave stayed as he saw the pink Apex Armor he knew belonged to someone he cared for but, for some reason, his mind was telling him to kill. On a brave or stupid instinct, probably the latter June decided afterward, June deactivated the armor and closed the gap in a Code Blue sprint. As she climbed up Soundwave's chassis, the mech screamed and held his head. "J-June?" He asked in a voice that sounded so much like his father, Jack froze and held out hope for the longest seconds on his life. "We have to find Optimus!" Eric said as he took off the visor, closed his red optics, and began the long road to undo the damage Megatron had done some many years before.

Trickshot sat up and sprinted to Arcee's side. The mech knelt and glared at his Sparkmate. "Arcee, I told you-" The femme cut him by locking lips with him. After they parted, Trickshot's glare was considerably softer. "It wasn't my idea," Arcee told him with a smile. "June wanted her Sparkmate back and wouldn't take no for an answer." She said with a smile. "That sounds very familiar for some reason." She winked at Jack playfully as they walked up to his mom and Dad. "We can make up later," Eric said to June with a tone that made Jack gag. "Right now, we need to be focus on leaving Jasper."

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	16. Love Lost and Gained

Chapter Sixteen: Love Lost and Gained

Optimus sighed as he came out of the Groundbridge. Many thoughts weighed on the mech's mind as he looked around at the canyon in front of him. He knew this day would come sooner or later, but the Prime had hoped that his evacuation plan would have come with a fallback position where Team Prime could meet and discuss their next move. Unfortunately, Fowler was not a man of contingency plans, one of the things about the human that annoyed Prime. Another was the man's…rotund body shape. If Special Forces back on Cybertron were that unhealthy, they would be discharged without question. It made the Prime angry to know that the humans were not taking Megatron's threats of invasion more seriously. Now, that decision was about to bite them in the aft. Optimus was tempted to let Megatron take the planet over just for a second. Then, he remembered the devastation his former friend had wrought on Cybertron, and that snapped the Prime out of his loathing. As Prime turned around, he saw something that made the Energon in his chassis turn to ice. "No! It can't be!" Optimus said as the last bit of denial about Elita's death clung to his processor. He picked up the limp chassis of Elita and begged Primus to let her be in stasis lock. Prime then gently kissed her. When Optimus did, Elita did not respond at all. Prime's Spark shattered like it had all those stellar cycles ago. Optimus' grieving mind did not notice as Elita's antenna sparked for just a moment as he held her.

Meanwhile, roughly a hundred miles south, Jack was riding on Arcee, and June was riding in Eric's "General Lee" Dukes of Hazzard homage, an orange 1969, two-door Dodge Challenger, out of Jasper. There was a sudden tachyon burst on Arcee and Jack's comms. The burst made them stop as Jack held his head in mild pain. This caused Eric to burn his tires in an attempt to stop. "What's wrong?" Eric looked back at them. "A distress beacon has just been activated by Prime." Arcee said. _Something about this isn't right._ Jack thought to Arcee with a subtle look. "Yeah…" Arcee mumbled. "Prime wouldn't call for help right after we separated. It says trap." Jack looked up at his father, questioningly. _Is Dad truly free from Megatron's control?_ Jack thought, a little scared of the prospect of that thought. Arcee smiled. _I'll watch him closely._ She told Jack through their link as they started down the road again.

Optimus looked at the body of his Sparkmate and felt his Spark turn to stone as he held her close one final time. He then started to gather stones for her burial mound. Each stone seemed heavier than the last, but in the middle of her burial, Optimus noticed something that glinted in the sunlight off of Elita's chest. As the mech leaned over her and blocked the sunlight, what became clear in his optics stunned the Prime. It was a relatively small, by Cybertronian standards, microchip. The circuitry formed an interesting pattern. It was the shape of the Decepticon logo with Elite Guard "wings" on the sides. _More Pretenders…_ Optimus thought with a growl as he crushed the chip and continued to bury Elita.

Arcee froze as the signal suddenly stopped. "Did you feel that?" She asked Jack with a slightly worried tone. He nodded and frowned. "The signal stopped completely." Eric was a little too interested in the signal. "Where did it come from?" He asked calmly. "The signal came from a cave in the side of The Grand Canyon." Arcee said calmly. "Let's go." Eric said without hesitation. _That's not my father._ Jack thought to himself. _He would never change into a mission that would almost certainly put Mom in danger!_ Jack tensed in preparation to jump Hammerclaw, but Arcee calmly pulled Jack back to his senses. _We have to wait._ She told him. _If you attack Hammerclaw now, your Mom will think you're crazy._ Jack just sighed and cautiously followed Hammerclaw as he lead the way into what Jack and Arcee were almost certain was a trap.

Optimus heard Arcee's unique engine a few hours later and glared at his second in command. "I gave you specific instructions not to seek me-" The mech stopped mid-sentence when he saw Hammerclaw's alt mode pull up behind Jack and instantly engaged his blades. "What do you want, Pretender?" Optimus asked with a coldness that Jack did not hear often. As June opened Hammerclaw's glove box, she saw a chip about the size of her hand that glowed purple. Before June could remove it, however, Hammerclaw transformed and threw June out in the process. She stared at her husband's casing in shock from her vantage point on the ground as Hammerclaw growled. "I want your head!" He then charged Optimus as June looked on in horror.

Jack glared at his father and engaged his combat suit. "Megatron still has a hold on him somehow. If we find the source and destroy it…" Arcee smiled as she started to run interference. "…we can free him from Megatron once and for all." Between Trickshot and Arcee, Hammerclaw had very little in the way of movement. That is, until he remembered Arcee's glaring weakness. Hammerclaw swept low, aiming for Arcee's gut, but Trickshot grabbed the punch. "Dad, fight it!" Trickshot demanded as he threw the mech to the ground and pinned him. Hammerclaw struggled and strained against his son, but Jack was equally, if not more so, determined to keep him from harming Arcee and/or their Sparkling. Hammerclaw punched his son with a powerful fist to the face, and Jack realized where his father had gotten his name as Jack's helm went sideways.

June screamed at Eric to stop. That got the mech's attention, and he gave June a sick smile that was a mix of fear, pain, regret, and remorse. June started backing away from him in absolute terror. "I don't know you anymore!" She cried as she stared at him with tears hiding in her eyes. "Are you Megatron's lapdog or the man I fell in love with?!" She said to him as the pain in her chest built to a stabbing that felt as if her very heart was being removed. Hammerclaw groaned as if he could feel her pain, but it was a groan of annoyance, not agony. "I…I…I serve Megatron!" She shivered as the last of the Bond between Eric and her shriveled and died. Jack was brought to his knees by his father's declaration and Arcee too as she shared Jack's pain.

Optimus glared at the mech who had, without raising a servo or blaster, incapacitated the three beings he cared about most in the entire cosmos. It seemed strange to Optimus that his processor would engineer such a thought. Stranger still, the thought aligned with what he knew in his Spark. Arcee was his comrade and family to him. Jack was like a son, and though Elita would always have a place in his Spark, June was Primus' gift to him to heal a shattered Spark. Being reserved as he was, Prime never opened up. He couldn't afford to on the battlefield. June was caring and kind, much like Elita, but where the two differed Elita was a warrior and saw things from a strategist's point of view. June, on the other servo, was a mother first. That completed Prime, whereas Elita was his clone almost. "It only took you seeing she almost killed to realize that, Orion." He chided himself in a whisper before he took aim and fired at the corrupted mech's helm.

June began to cry hysterically as Hammerclaw fell to the ground. She looked up at Optimus with pain in her eyes. "Why?" She mumbled quietly as she looked at him with a hint of anger. Arcee and Jack walked over, and Jack put a hand on his Mom's shoulder. "You should've saved him!" She growled as she glared at the bots. "June, once a chip is plugged into a Cybertronian's processor, a copy of the chip's programming installs itself in the Cybertronian's neural net." June looked at Arcee confused for a second until Jack translated. "He was brainwashed, Mom. There was nothing we could do." He said as he shed a tear. Optimus knelt so he could look the human femme in the eye. "I know it hurts now, but pain is temporary." He said kindly as he brushed a tear from her cheek with a large metal finger.

Arcee was stunned at the tenderness Optimus displayed. She had never seen this side of him before, but it was pleasing to see him drop the serious mask he always had to comfort June. Something else slammed into her as she watched. _Masks are for protection._ She thought. _He feels he doesn't need to protect himself around her._ Jack looked up at her. "What's so strange about that? We…" He trailed off and stared at the mech in shock, unable to process the fact that Optimus, the kick aft Leader of the Autobots, had been smitten with his mother. It seemed strange, but the more Jack thought about it, the more it made sense. Elita was Optimus if he were a femme. Jack's mother completed the wounded Prime. It was a fitting role for June to heal Optimus, being a nurse. Only this time, it wouldn't be with sutures or medication but kindness and time. _I just hope Mom isn't too shocked when Optimus breaks it to her._

June blinked her remaining tears away and managed a small smile at the Titan. "Thank you, Optimus." She said as her smile widened. Optimus was taken by surprise. "Thanks are not needed, Mrs. Darby." He said calmly. "I swore to myself to protect humanity." The woman could tell Optimus was trying to avoid talking about her, but it was clear he meant the statement to be much more specific. She nodded and looked at her fallen husband's chassis one more time. "Eric told me about the burial rites of Cybertronians. Would you help me?" Optimus and Arcee nodded solemnly at Jane as Jack activated his suit and began to bury his father's body. Optimus looked up at the stars as Jack put the final stone in place on his father's mound. "May your Sparks finally know peace in The Great Well." Optimus said as he put a servo on Elita's mound before he looked at the others with a courageous smile. "Let's find the others." He said as his tone returned to its normal authoritative and serious voice. June looked at the mech in confusion. He transformed and opened his passenger door. "Miss Darby, if you please?" He said as she hesitantly climbed into the cab.

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	17. Secrets

Chapter Seventeen: Secrets

Megatron was furious as he marched back and forth across _The Nemesis._ "I lost my best soldier all because a foolish medic can't properly program a chip!" He punched a wall. As the sound reverberated through the metal ship, Knockout shivered as he tinkered in his medical bay. "I've got to think of something to appease Lord Megatron." Knockout thought as he worked. As he twisted his servo back into a locked position on his wrist, the soft _click!_ of the joint as it locked back into function on his arm gave the Decepticon medic a thought. "Maybe Megatron is attacking this problem wrong." Knockout mused to himself as he pulled up all known data Soundwave had on the human techno-organic.

Heavy, instantly recognizable footfalls stopped the medic in his tracks the moment he heard them. He quickly closed down his research and turned to see the large mass that was Megatron staring at him. Megatron didn't waste any words. He just struck Knockout so hard across the faceplate that the medic was sent across the room. "You assured me the chip would be undetectable! The puny Autobots found it anyway!" Knockout flinched as a fist came down on his faceplate. Knockout snapped. He had his fill of being pushed around long ago but was too afraid to act. Knockout gathered what courage he could and tackled Megatron. Knockout was sure it was his malfunctioning processor that made him stand up to a gladiator who could easily kick his aft, but as Knockout jumped Megatron, a tent of emerald covered Knockout's chassis for a split second. As they rolled, Knockout's medical readouts from his instruments read like Megatron was a femme! _What the Pit?!_ Knockout thought, shocked. _It must be a glitch._ The medic decided as Megatron kicked Knockout into a wall.

As Knockout sat there in a perfect dent in the wall for his body and while Megatron quickly charged him, Megatron's behavior started running through the mech's mind. Megatron did act like a femme, now that Knockout thought about it. The obsession over conquering worlds was a manifestation of a glitch's need for control on extreme level, and the obsession over the Autobots was really a fixation on Prime, who spurned the femme for Elita and ignited a lasting need for revenge in Megatron's spark.

Knockout smiled and rolled out of the dent just before Megatron's fist impacted. "So, the little femme can't take rejection well?" Knockout asked with a smirk. Megatron's elevated Energon pressure told Knockout that he was getting to Megatron quickly. Knockout leaped over Megatron and ripped off the shoulder plating. Underneath were slender shoulders that looked severely out of place in light of the rest of Megatron's chassis. By now, Knockout was sure the rest of the mech exterior was little more than a body suit for the femme inside. That made Knockout smile. "I'll kill you, Knockout!" The medic just smirked and, little by little, ripped away Megatron's bodysuit. Knockout smiled evilly when he saw the femme Megatron really was. "I'll teach you respect, you slagging glitch!" The femme just whimpered. With her armor gone, intimidation had gone with it. She glared at Knockout and tried to punch him, but the mech caught the punch easily. "Oh, feisty…" Knockout said as his grin widened. He then forced her Spark Chamber open and bonded with her as she screamed in terror.

At Omega One, Optimus couldn't shut down. His processor had too many thoughts and emotions running through it at the moment to allow him to rest. Optimus got up and decided to go for a dive to clear his mind. As the Autobot Leader drove, he started to think of June for some reason. She was kind, helpful, beautiful, fought when the situation called for it, and beautiful. He could see how she managed to make a defector out of Hammerclaw. As the trace of a smile imprinted on Optimus' faceplate, his thoughts were interrupted as a message came across all the Autobots' comms.

"This is Knockout speaking. The Decepticons are under new management!" Jack and Arcee were thrown awake when they heard that. _Did I hear that right?_ Arcee asked over her and Jack's link. _I think my audios are busted._ Jack shivered at the thought of someone with the bearings to overthrow Megatron. He never would have pegged Knockout as the usurping type though. That confused him. "We need to get to base." Jack said as he walked out to the garage, got on Arcee and headed to base. "There is no way Knockout bested Megatron…" Arcee mumbled to herself. Jack nodded in agreement. "…he cares about his paint too much to get his servos dirty. This makes no sense." Arcee just sighed and put more Energon in her drive systems. "Hopefully, Optimus can shed some light on this." She said as they pulled into the mesa.

Everyone had confused looks on their faceplates as they waited for Prime to return. _If Optimus needed to defragment his processor with a drive, he must really be stressed._ Arcee thought as she looked at Jack. The hybrid was tapping his chin, deep in thought. As Optimus drove up, June got out, which was a shock to everyone but Jack and Arcee. As the mech transformed, he looked at the others with regret in his optics. "You know Megatron and I used to be comrades…" He began. "The part I have kept from all of you for fear is Megatron is a femme." Jaws around the room dropped off their hinges. "Her original name was Skyswipe, and she became infatuated with me soon after we met." He said with a sigh. "The war, all the death, stems from my rejection of her when Skyswipe told me of her feelings." He said as he looked away from them.

Arcee looked at Optimus. "With all due respect, sir, it wasn't you fault. How could you know the glitch would lose her processor over rejection?" Arcee said with a smile. "I fear Knockout found out the truth and…conquered Skyswipe." Ratchet said somberly. June looked at Optimus. "You have to mount a rescue mission." She said sternly. Arcee nodded. "No one, no matter how twisted they are, deserves that." Jack looked at her worriedly. _The baby…_ He thought as he paled. "You worry too much." Arcee said calmly. Optimus looked at her. "If you are to go on this mission, young Jackson WILL come with you. This is not up for discussion, Arcee." Optimus said with the tone of a commanding officer. Arcee nodded grudgingly. "A small strike team would be best for this mission. Two go in, secure the package, and get out." Jack said calmly as he looked up at the other bots. "Size will limit the chance of the strike team being discovered." He said as he looked at Arcee with an unspoken question. She nodded, and they calmly walked to the Groundbridge.

On the other side, Arcee glared at Jack. "I don't know why I let you talk me into these things." She said with a shake of her head. Jack just chuckled. "With the ranks in disarray, this should be relatively easy." Jack said as he and Arcee headed toward the detention level. He sighed and smiled at her. "You know? You're kinda cute when you're angry." She glared down at him, but the glare melted into a smile. "I guess you are right." Two Vehicons were walking down the hall. "There's one. Set for stun." The one to the left just shook his head and started shooting. Jack just sighed and activated his suit. "You really shouldn't have done that." Trickshot growled as he slammed their helms together. He then caught up with Arcee quickly. "Element of surprise is gone," Arcee said with a glare aimed at Trickshot. The mech shrugged and started looked at cells.

"I found her!" Trickshot called a few minutes later. Skyswipe looked terrible. Her entire body was covered by Energon, and she was barely online. "Calm down." Arcee said gently when she saw Skyswipe flinch at Trickshot and motioned for him to stay back for now. "We're going to get you out of here and get you to medic…" Arcee knew she messed up when Skyswipe almost jumped to the ceiling. "Don't take me back there, please!" She pleaded. "You'll go offline if you don't allow me to check you." Trickshot said as calmly as he could. It was clear the former warlord was a shadow of herself. "Let me go offline. I'd rather go offline than live with the memories!" She said in a strained voice. Trickshot sighed and put her into stasis. He then hefted her over a shoulder in a Fireman's Carry. "Let's move!" He said as he and Arcee started to run for an exit.

By now, the whole ship was on alert. Trickshot and Arcee mowed down wave after wave of 'Cons. They were almost off the ship when Arcee screamed in pain. Jack tuned back to see Arcee limping along with 'Cons rapidly closing. "I had hoped to never have to use this." Jack mumbled as he took what looked to be a fragmentation grenade and three it. A blue wave of energy knocked the 'Cons out on an instant. Trickshot helped Arcee to her peds and let her lean on him as they walked out onto the top deck of _The Nemesis_. "Ratchet. Bridge. NOW!" Trickshot yelled as he jumped off the deck into the air. A vortex opened and swallowed them.

Back at base, Ratchet was getting sickbay ready. "Check Arcee." Trickshot ordered. "I'm fine," Arcee protested. "Check on Skyswipe." Ratchet nodded and got to work. When Skyswipe woke and saw Ratchet, she screamed and started thrashing. Arcee walked over and put a servo on the frightened femme's. "It's alright. He's a friend." She said gently. Ratchet looked at Optimus. "She suffered major Energon loss, but she should make a full recovery. Emotionally and mentally she may never heal, though." Ratchet told Optimus somberly. Optimus nodded at his old friend. "Thank you, Ratchet." He said with a sober look.

Optimus then walked over to Arcee and Jack. "You did a great job with the mission, Arcee and Jack." Jack smiled. "So, Optimus, since when do you take orders from Mom?" Optimus' optics went wide and he scratched the back of his helm nervously. "She has conviction, Jack. You should know that." Jack just smiled. _Sure. Keep telling yourself that._ Jack thought as Arcee laughed at Jack's thought while Optimus looked between them, smiled, shook his head, and walked off. Arcee was shocked. _He NEVER smiles._ She thought to Jack. _June must have quite a hold on his Spark._ Jack smiled, but the smile quickly faded as the thought of his mom and Optimus bonding snuck into Jack's head. The thought made both he and Arcee gag.

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	18. Arrival and Altercations

Chapter Eighteen: Arrival and Altercations

Jack was on pins and needles as he paced back and forth in his room. It wasn't enough that Megatron, Jack had to stop himself; Skyswipe put herself in supposed exile, or the fact that Megatron was really a femme. Add to that that his daughter was coming any day now, and Jack hadn't been able to sleep for more than a few hours each night for a couple of weeks. The stress of it all was wearing on the hybrid. Jack didn't trust Skyswipe as much as Optimus. He just knew Megatron was playing the mech like a fiddle. Megatron was too deranged to put herself in exile without an ulterior motive. Jack was just waiting for the day when she would come back and continue to try and conquer the planet. This was just an elaborate ruse, and Jack knew it to be so. The only question he couldn't answer was how Megatron planned to use the relative lull to her advantage. Then, as he was drifting off to another restless attempt at sleep, the pain hit him like a freight train. The pain was dulled slightly because it came through the link and not directly from his body, but it still felt like a jackhammer was let loose on his stomach at full power. "Ratchet…" Jack called through his comm. "We need a Bridge!" He said calmly as he could though it was difficult to do with Arcee screaming Cybertronian obscenities at him that Jack had never heard before in his head.

Once they got into Omega One, the place turned into a frenzy of activity. Ratchet was in charge, and Arcee was in charge of him as she turned her venom on the medic. "Ok, Arcee. I need you to relax as much as you can and push." Arcee glared daggers at the old docbot. "You try relaxing while in blinding pain!" Jack walked over to her as best he could and managed a smile. "Think about the Sparkling. Us teaching her how to fight. Us racing her for the first time when she gains an alt mode." That last statement made them both smile. "She's going to be able to wipe the floor with you."Arcee said with a light smile as Jack held her servo. It clinched into a fist when another wave came and would have crushed Jack's hand had his bones not been reinforced with Cybertronian alloy. He cringed and bit back tears until Arcee's servo relaxed again.

For hours it was that cycle of crushing Jack's hand and releasing it. Then, Arcee's grip was constant for the final hour. Jack felt relief wash over him as Arcee's grip finally relaxed. He wasn't exactly sure if the relief came from just him or both he and Arcee. When Jack looked at his hand, it was black and blue instead of the tan shade of the rest of his skin. That answered his question. Ratchet smiled as he brought the Sparkling up to the light. "Congratulations…" He said with a rare genuine smile as he handed the child to Arcee. "…it's a beautiful femme." The whole base erupted in cheers and smiles. Even the normally stoic Optimus was smiling from audio receptor to audio receptor at the happy parents and their daughter.

June smiled at Jack as she walked in through a Groundbridge. When he waved with his bruised hand, June couldn't help but laugh a little to herself. "Why didn't you tell me?" The now grandmother asked with a slight frown. Jack was about to speak when his daughter saw her Dad. When the Sparkling's optics connected with Jack's, her body shimmered like sunlight refracting off a gem. Then, she shrank to the size of a human baby and looked the part as well. June picked her up in a blanket and handed her to Jack with practiced ease. As Jack looked down at the beautiful baby in his arms, a smile formed on the young father's face. "You and Arcee make a beautiful kid." Jack's eyes went wide until he realized who it was. "Thanks…Dad." He said quietly as tears brimmed in his eyes.

He looked up at Arcee, and she gave him a knowing smile. "What are we going to name her?"Jack asked as he looked up at Arcee. Arcee was about to protest, but she saw Jack's look. "It's a human custom." Arcee nodded and smiled. "How about Crystal?" She suggested after she thought about the way their daughter's body reacted when she saw her father and took on a human form. Jack smiled at that and nodded before he looked down at the little girl in his arms. "What do you think, Crystal?" She gave him a toothless smile as her eyes sparkled with delight. "Crystal it is then." He said as he gave her back to Arcee. The child's form changed back to a generic metallic body when she was placed back in her Mom's arms. When Arcee looked at Ratchet with a worried expression at seeing her daughter change, the medic put a servo on Arcee's. "Don't worry. Once Crystal learns to control her Pretender abilities, she won't shift like that. It's just the lack of control, Arcee." He told her reassuringly. She nodded and seemed more at ease once she knew it was natural.

At that same time, Knockout was working on his grand plan. He had schematics of the hybrid's possible body structure. He smiled wickedly as he studied the hybrid's mechanics. He was a little puzzled when a satellite map superimposed itself on the new Lord of the Decepticons' notes about the techno-organic. "What's this?" He mumbled as he took a closer look at the signature. "A fusion of the two-wheeler's Energon signature and the mongrel's?" A dark smirk formed on the red former medic's faceplate as he realized what or, more accurately who, the strange signature. "This could work…" Knockout said as he chuckled darkly. "Starscream, I need you in the lab. Report immediately!"

To say Starscream was pissed was a gross understatement. "I spent untold stellar cycles trying to snuff the pathetic dictator's Spark, yet the slagging wimp managed it in a nanoclick. Starscream slammed his fist into the wall angrily. All it did was dent the bulkhead. "Starscream, I need you in the lab. Report immediately!" Starscream grumbled a response, transformed, and flew to the lab. "What would you have me do, My Liege?" Starscream asked with a smile as his voice dripped with sweetness. Knockout glared at Starscream. "I'm not Megatron. You can stop kissing aft, Starscream." Knockout growled at Starscream. "I know you, Starscream. You hate being second in command." Knockout said to him calmly. "I have a job for you where you can cannel that rage." Knockout said calmly as he smiled and turned the monitor in front of him, so Starscream could see. "Is that a new Energon signature?" Knockout nodded. "It is your target, my friend. Time to prove yourself as my Second in Command." Knockout said with a dark smile. Starscream spaced his servo on the computer and downloaded the signature. "I live to serve, Knockout he said as he transformed and shot off.

Arcee and Jack were on their way home while June offered to take Crystal back to the house. Jack and Arcee both rejected the offer. If anyone was going to take Crystal home, they would be her parents. Jack and Arcee didn't have anything against June, but they didn't want Crystal to be the target of a possible 'Con ambush without being protected even on the short trip through a Groundbridge. Crystal was mesmerized by the swirling colors of the Bridge and stared at it in wonder. Jack smiled when he looked down and saw his daughter's face. "That's pretty, huh?" He said with a smile before he looked back at where he was going. AS the portal closed, Crystal climbed up her Dad's shoulder and waved at the Groundbridge as it closed. "Bye, bye!" She said quietly. Jack looked up at Arcee, shocked. She smiled back at Jack with a grin. "What?" She asked with a smile. "Cybertronians learn to speak within hours of coming online." Arcee said to Jack as if it was common knowledge. He shook his head with a smile. "This going to take some getting used to." Jack said to Arcee as they walked into the garage.

A few miles away, Starscream was on the trail of his target. "This should be a slice of enriched Energon." Starscream said with a smug smirk. As he landed on his peds, there was movement in the dwelling. "Puny humans…always scurrying about like the insects they are." Starscream said as he punched in the garage door. He wasn't expecting what he got. When the door fell, Starscream was greeted by something he didn't expect. Four blasters were in his face. "Step. Away. Slowly." Trickshot growled angrily as his blasters whined with power. "You've got more bearings than I thought, Starscream!" Arcee growled as her maternal instincts drove her to an anger that made Starscream shiver. "To get her, you have to offline us!" Trickshot growled. Arcee grinned as she went through what she and Jack had done. They had barely stepped into the garage when they heard the scream of low flying jet engines. _Starscream!_ Jack and Arcee thought in unison. "Mom, take Crystal into the house and stay there!" She nodded and ran into the house. "I just want the Sparkling." Starscream said with a calm but slightly manic tone in his voice. "Over my offline chassis, you piece of slag!" Arcee growled as she rushed over to Starscream and started beating him senselessly. Jack wanted to join in, but he didn't want to get caught on the wrong end of the new mother's fury.

When she was done, Trickshot started beating Starscream, but he noticed Vehicons casing the house. "Oh no, you slaggers!" Trickshot growled as he picked up Starscream and threw him into a Vehicon. With a roar, Trickshot began bringing down Vehicons left and right until he saw no more enemies. He looked up when he heard the roar of jet engines and laughter. "You pathetic Autobots can't even hang on to your Sparklings!" Trickshot felt his anger grow as he looked up at the fleeing Seeker. "STARSCREAM!" Jack roared before he leaped up with every ounce of strength he had and landed on Starscream's wings. Trickshot heard his daughter crying in Starscream's cockpit. "Daddy! Help me!" She pleaded as she beat the hatch and began to cry. Crystal's cries made Jack's anger boiled. He stood on Starscream's wings, and forced the bastard down. "Crystal, stay as low as you can. Daddy's coming!" Jack said as he ripped off Starscream's hatch as the Seeker screamed in pain. He then gently picked up his terrified daughter to comfort her in one servo and bent back Starscream's wing before he could transform out of his alt mode. "Tell Knockout to leave us alone!" Jack growled as he kicked Starscream's alt mode into the air. Crystal smiled and laughed. "Bye, bye, Bad Plane." She said as she waved at Starscream.

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	19. Three's a Crowd

Chapter Nineteen: Three's a Crowd

Starscream groaned and pushed his articulation motors to their peak while he tried to push himself to his peds. _That insufferable hybrid had an impressive amount of strength behind his arm._ Starscream thought as his joints groaned under the strain, and his pain receptors were screaming at full volume in his processor. _Was it worth getting the slag beat out of me just to be second again?_ Starscream asked himself as he trudged along at a slow pace. The fact he couldn't tran _s_ form and run annoyed the Seeker greatly. He was supposed to be Master of the Skies, not some pathetic ground-crawling bug! The Decepticon picked up a distress beacon on his internal scanners and smiled, though his position in relation to where he was now confused the leek Con who was regularly mistaken as a femme for reasons Starscream couldn't fathom. He appeared to be at least two hundred miles from his former location. _Slag it!_ It would take him half a solar cycle to get to the ship's location, but that didn't really matter to Starscream now that he had a reachable goal in sight.

Meanwhile, back at the Darby Residence, Crystal was getting hungry. Jack noticed and tried to feed his daughter some food, but she turned her nose up at it. "I want Energon!" She said with an angry glare aimed at her Dad. "You have to eat, honey. Then, you can have Energon." Jack told her with a calm smile that hid a frustration he was doing his best to keep sealed in. _Eat just a few bites._ Jack pleaded in his mind as Arcee laughed at him. Jack then got the idea to play with it. "Daddy has to beat the bad robots, but the tunnel is blocked!" He said to her in mock panic. "Oh, no!" Crystal smiled and opened her mouth as she giggled at her Dad. "Alright, my little Autobot, its bath time after you eat. Then, off to bed." Jack said with a smile before he got up, ruffled Crystal's hair, and walked to the garage to talk to Arcee a bit.

Arcee was still laughing softly to herself when Jack walked in the garage. "What's so funny?' He asked her as her fought to keep the thin line on his face from forming a smile at the sound of Arcee's laughter. "She gets that from you. You know?" Arcee told Jack as she got her laughter under control. He shot her a tired look, and she knew that it had been a long day for them both. "What's on your mind, Partner?" Arcee asked him with an unseen worried look as Jack patted her gas tank. "Crystal isn't eating like she should for her organic part. I want to go see Ratchet and have him check on her." Arcee transformed and put a gentle servo on his shoulder. "You said it yourself. She is only part organic. Don't worry. She's probably…what's the human expression…'healthy as a horse'?" Jack nodded and stretched.

Then, he went up to his room and checked on his daughter. She was calmly sitting on the edge of her bed. "Tell me a story, Daddy." Jack smiled and started the story as he tucked Crystal in. "Not so long ago, Daddy and Mommy met at a place where I used to work…" Her eyes little lit up and looked like her mother's as the girl listened intently to the story. As Jack continued, Crystal's eyelids got heavier and heavier until she was fast asleep. Jack smiled, got up, and kissed her forehead before he took his nightly post in a bed a few feet from Crystal's. After Starscream's brazen attempted kidnapping, the new parents didn't take any chances and agreed to have someone with Crystal at all times until she could defend herself.

Back on _The_ Nemesis, Knockout was strangely calm when he didn't hear back from Starscream a few hours after Knockout sent him to retrieve the Sparkling. In fact, a small smile graced his faceplate as he checked the footage on a secret camera Knockout implanted in Starscream's optic during the Seeker's last shutdown. When Knockout saw the footage of Starscream's "fight" with Trickshot and Arcee, he started laughing almost as soon as the slaughter started. "Starscream is an arrogant idiot!" Knockout said to no one in particular as he watched Starscream get knocked down a few notches. _This is a special moment._ The Con thought to himself. _I ridded the Decepticons of Starscream and put the little techno-organic family on notice._ A dark grin planted itself on his face but quickly vanished when he saw Starscream approach _The Harbinger_. Knockout silently cursed to himself as he glared at the screen in front of him. "Go to these coordinates and bring back Starscream in a scrapheap!" Knockout ordered as a battalion of Vehicons were dispatched to offline Starscream.

On the other side of that screen, Starscream thought he was the luckiest Cybertronian ever. The Seeker had made it to what would become his safe haven and base for an unknown length of time and instantly started to repair himself. After that was done, Starscream got to work on his ultimate plan and began to work on making clones from his own Energon with one minor alteration to his genetic material. Starscream was smart enough to write a genetic program into the clones that would prevent them from usurping or betraying him. He laughed darkly as the lifeless protoforms took on his appearance. "Rise, my armada!" He said to them with grand gestures and a dark glee in his optics. The Seeker's grand show was interrupted by the roar of jet engines overhead. This made Starscream scowl then grin. "Fly, my armada! Defend your lord and master!" The resounding chorus of "Yes, Lord Starscream!" made Starscream's Energon bubble with excitement as he took to the air with his army and met the drones with a lack of cowardice because of the confidence his army was able to give him. The battle raged furiously for a few minutes, but the Vehicons were woefully unprepared for a confident army of Starscream clones and were destroyed quickly.

Knockout pounded a servo into the wall and growled in anger. "How could Starscream know of the cloning facilities?" Knockout growled. He looked around in frustration before he noticed the Starscream clones all showed up on the display as the same Energon signature. This peculiar fact rang in Knockout's processor as he grinned. "The Autobots are probably aware of Starscream's new army." Knockout told himself as he smiled, leaned back in his chair, and laced his fingers together before he calmly placed his servos behind his head. "Ladies and gentlemen, find your seats. The show will begin momentarily." He said as a dark smirk crossed his lips.

The call came in on their comms at about seven in the morning. Ratchet got something on the displays during the night that warranted investigation. Jack and Arcee groaned as they heard the call of duty and somewhat slowly responded. The nights since Starscream attacked them at the house had little sleep for both Arcee and Jack. "We're on our way, Ratchet." Jack said with a tired yawn as he strapped Crystal in the backseat. She started to cry as her form shimmed in response to being placed in Trickshot's alternate mode. "Daddy, what's happening to me?!" She asked in a frantic tone. "Calm down and picture yourself." He said in a kind voice as he looked back at his daughter and watched her change back into her human form. "Good." Jack said with a proud smile. "When we get to the Base, I'll explain. I promise." He assured her as he wiped the tears from her eyes. She gave him a scared nod and a small smile. Then, they continued to Omega One.

Once there, Jack and Arcee walked in with Crystal in Jack's arms. All the Bots looked at Jack oddly when they saw this. "Are her legs broken?" Bulkhead asked like an idiot. Arcee sent the Weaker a glare that made him shiver. "If you must know, Crystal discovered her Pretender abilities as we were getting ready to come here." Arcee growled. "She's scared to let go of me because she doesn't want to turn into a 'silver monster' again." Jack said with a similar glare as he set Crystal on the ground. She looked at herself and triumphantly said, "I'm still me!" Jack laughed. "You will always be you, Sweetheart, but you have special powers from me that make you look like everyone else. You also are like the Autobots and Mommy at the same time." He said kindly. She nodded with the biggest grin you ever saw on child's face. It even brought the trace of a smile to Ratchet's faceplate, but the room quickly returned to a serious tone.

"I picked up strange Energon signals coming from deep in the desert. They appear to all be Starscream." Bulkhead sighed. "Just what we need." He grumbled, "more Starscream." Arcee bristled at the disturbing thought. Starscream almost captured Crystal before. Now, they had to worry about more than one?! Arcee felt her blasters almost jump out but managed to keep them in. Optimus' voice echoed against the stone walls. "Bumblebee and I will scout around the signals and disable the cloning machines if possible. Bulkhead, you will stay here with Ratchet, Jack, and Arcee to guard Crystal if this turns out to be an elaborate ruse." Bulkhead simply nodded as the Groundbridge powered to life before Optimus and Bumblebee stepped through.

On the other side of the Groundbridge, Optimus and Bumblebee were instantly surrounded by Starscream clones. Bumblebee rolled his optics and started bashing heads. As fists flew into one clone after another, Bumblebee chuckled softly to himself. " _Starscream sure is full of himself._ " Bee commented as they continued to cut through the masses of Starscream clones. After what seemed like an eternity of blasting and punching, Bee finally made it to the machine and shut it down. He would have paled if he could've. The urgency was painted well on Bumblebee's faceplate. Optimus looked at the readout and growled in anger. Twenty Starscream clones were unaccounted for according to the machine's log. "Ratchet, get us back to Base. Now!"

The urgency in Prime's voice startled Ratchet until the red and blue mech stormed through the Groundbridge vortex while he shouted orders. "Bulkhead, we have incoming. You're with me on the roof. The rest of you…" Orders didn't need to be given. Faces hardened and everyone was ready for what they had to do. Bulkhead and Prime waited tensely for the first sign of clones. For a few moments, all was quiet and still. Then, the roar of jet engines acted as vanguard to the trip to the Pit Bulkhead and Prime were about to take. Blaster fire filled the air around the roof. Bulkhead and Prime destroyed all but three clones. As the last clone lost his engines, down but still mobile, he railed the other two to take the base from the ground as Prime and Bulkhead rained down plasma Energon on them. Bulkhead wasn't sure, but he thought he heard Prime growl, "You can take my granddaughter from my cold, offline chassis!" The Wreaker chalked it up to the rush of battle, however.

Inside, the base was on a hair trigger. As soon as the clones broke through the stone door, they didn't stand a chance. Blaster fire from four very protective Bots cut the three remaining clones down in seconds. Arcee disengaged her blasters nervously and went to check on Crystal. The girl was shivering but otherwise unharmed, safe in her hiding place of an old supply closet. "It's safe now," Arcee called out from the door. Crystal looked at her mother with slight fear. "Are the bad robots gone, Mommy?" She asked as she took a few nervous toward Arcee who smiled. "Yes, Crystal. It's safe." She repeated. The girl sprinted to her Mom and hugged her servo tight, either not caring or unaware as her form flickered between Crystal's human and her Cybertronian forms.

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	20. Crystal Goes to School

Chapter Twenty: Crystal Goes to School

As they rode back home from the base, Crystal looked out of her father's back seat and smiled as kids played on a playground at the elementary school. "What's that, Daddy? It looks like fun!" She said to him with a broad smile. Jack returned the smile and said, "That's school, where you go to learn and make friends." He said with a smile. Crystal giggled. "When can I go to school?" She asked. Jack could feel Arcee's apprehension. _It will do her good to get out and meet kids her own cognitive level._ Jack told Arcee. _If the 'cons attack her at school…_ Jack glared at his Sparkmate through their link. _We can teach her self-defense techniques before she goes._ He said to her as his emotions went back down quickly. _Arcee, we made a promise ourselves to protect her until she could defend herself. It's time to let her out._ He said with a calm look. Arcee grudgingly agreed.

Back at the house, Crystal was a ball of energy. "Crystal, could you come in the living room for a minute?" The girl looked up as her Dad called, smiled, and walked into the living room. A woman was standing by Jack. She had blue hair and a stony expression. This made Crystal uncomfortable, but she didn't let it show. Then, the woman threw a punch at Crystal. The little girl, who looked to be about five, caught the punch and Judo flipped her over onto her back. The woman was quick to recover, but it was Crystal's turn to go on the offensive. Seemingly on instinct, the girl was able to read her opponent and counter accordingly. Finally, Crystal wrapped her legs around the woman in a Sleeper Hold. Crystal was fairly sure the person would pass out quickly. When the woman vanished completely instead, Crystal realized who she had fought and looked up at her Dad with a pained expression. Jack knelt by his daughter and pulled her into a tight hug. "Mommy's ok. I promise. We just wanted test you." He told her. "Why?" She asked as she looked into his eyes. "Mommy and Daddy won't be able to protect you at school. We had to know if you could defend yourself." Jack explained. The girl instantly brightened at hearing about school. "Does this mean I can go?!" She asked with a grin. As Jack nodded, his daughter jumped up and hugged him. They toppled over as momentum pushed them to the ground. Both got up laughing. In the back of Jack's mind, he thought, _Now the fun part, getting Fowler to pull strings._

A few minutes later, Fowler got the call. "By Uncle Sam's star-spangled shorts! You want me to do what?" It took most of Jack's concentration not to yell at the man. "With Crystal's unique situation, I can't register her for class without rousing suspicion." He said calmly. Fowler seemed to think it over for a minute. Then, he said, "I'm going to get you on payroll as a field agent with the Autobots…and I'll have the necessary paperwork pushed through to get her in school." "Thank you, Agent Fowler." Fowler seemed to smile, even over the comm. "Now, I won't be the only one taking heat from General Brice." Fowler said. Jack shivered at that last statement and cut the connection.

Arcee noticed Jack's tension and sighed. "Fowler tricked you." She mumbled. "Not exactly, I do need the money to take care of Crystal, but he seemed to enjoy the idea of me getting an earful from top brass entirely too much." Jack said calmly. "I just hope the General doesn't over react and try to lock up Crystal in some secret base." That thought made Energon boil in both of them. "He wouldn't dare." Arcee said with a calm anger. "The Team cares for her too much, and upsetting them would be like opening a gate for the 'cons." Arcee said calmly. "You're coming with me tomorrow when I meet him, right?" Jack asked her nervously. "I wouldn't have it any other way. In fact, I think Crystal should go with us." Jack gave her a confused look. "We can get General Brice's intentions by watching his reaction to her." Arcee explained. Jack nodded and smiled. "We're supposed to meet him at 0600 tomorrow." Jack said with a sigh. "It will be a long day." Arcee said as she went into stasis. After eating and getting both of them ready for bed, Jack tucked Crystal in and kissed her forehead. "Be ready. We have an early day tomorrow." He told her before he went to sleep himself.

When they woke up, everyone in the Darby household was busy. After about fifteen minutes, Arcee, Jack, and Crystal were in their way to rendezvous with Agent Fowler at Omega One. Once there, Jack with Crystal in his arms and Arcee hesitantly walked through a Groundbridge set to the predetermined destination. On the other side of the Groundbridge, a slew of men greeted them with guns at the ready. "Scrap!" Arcee growled as her blasters hummed to life. General Brice walked out of the mass of soldiers with a disturbing smile as the soldiers parted in front of him like The Red Sea. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience. This is for my own protection." Arcee disengaged her blasters and glared hard at the general. _I don't like him._ She thought to Jack. _Watch your back while around him._ Jack looked at her in acknowledgement. _I will._ He told her as he looked down at his daughter and marched up to the general. Brice eyed her with an unhealthy amount of interest. "Arcee, watch Crystal. The general and I need to talk." Jack said with a hint of anger in his voice. Arcee nodded understandingly. _If this goes to scrap…_ Jack smiled and kissed her. _You'll be the first one I call._ He told her as he glared at Brice.

"Let's get one thing straight: My daughter WILL NOT be locked up in some base for monsters to experiment on!" The general laughed. "Who's going to stop me? You?" Jack's rage hit new levels of fury. He slammed Brice on the ground and glared at him with his foot on the general's chest. "Touch my daughter, and you'll lose your head. Get me?" He said as his eyes glowed with anger. "Yes…" The general squeaked out. "Good boy, glad we could come to an understanding." Jack growled as he let the general up. Brice actually looked scared as Jack's eyes continued to burn into the general. "I'll accept any orders you give me, but my family comes first, General." Jack told him before he calmed down. "Understood…" Jack glared at him. "Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get my daughter to her first day of school." Jack said as he walked away. "Come on, Arcee," Jack said calmly. "We have to get Crystal to her first day of school." Jack said with a smile. "Ratchet, bridge us out, please." The bridge opened. Jack and Arcee walked through with mild fear. As soon as the portal closed, the general started laughing. "Have MECH on standby. This is commander Silas. Subject One is on the move. Stay on her."

At Omega One, Arcee and Jack were getting Crystal ready. "Have fun, honey, but keep your optics open." Jack warned as he and Arcee took her to school at Jasper Elementary. I will." Crystal said calmly. "Don't worry." Jack could see her form flickering slightly. "Remember," he told her. "If you get scared, close your eyes and take some deep breaths." Arcee smiled. "If you notice anyone strange around you, hold a finger to your right ear and talk like I taught you, Uncle Ratchet will tell us. Then, Mommy and/or Daddy will come." The girl nodded at her mother with a smile and walked into the school calmly. Arcee watched her daughter walk into the school. Then, she and Jack both rode away as fear plagued Arcee's processor. Jack could feel Arcee's fear and tried to calm her. "Don't worry. We taught Crystal well. She will be fine." Jack said as he tried to soothe his Sparkmate's fears

As the doors closed behind her, Crystal looked around and smiled as a pleasant-looking woman walked up to her and asked, "Are you Crystal Darby?" The girl smiled and nodded at the kind woman without a word. "Follow me please. I'll take you to your teacher." Crystal got an uneasy feeling as she followed the kind lady to her teacher's room. The room was brightly colored and had a calendar on the far wall. Crystal noticed that the 8th was red while the rest of the numbers were black. She then checked the date against her chronometer like Jack taught her and found it to be accurate. There was a clock in a chair that rested on the left wall, but it looked strange. That was when Crystal realized the clock was to teach kids her apparent age how to tell time. The clock was currently set to either 0755 or 1955 hours. Crystal couldn't tell morning or evening because the clock wasn't that detailed. She smiled and laughed aloud at the idea. This caught the rest of the class, including the teacher, off guard. She looked up at Crystal with kind eyes. "Hello, I'm Ms. Allen." The teacher said. "Join us, please." Ms. Allen patted an empty space on the rug next to her. "We were just introducing ourselves. What's your name?" Crystal sat down slowly and crossed her legs while the rest of the kids were sitting on their knees or in chairs. "Mi llamo Crystal Darby." The teacher was taken aback by this. The shock on Ms. Allen's face told Crystal she had messed up. "I'm sorry, Ms. Allen. My family speaks multiple languages." This made the teacher smile with pleasant surprise and earned Crystal dirty looks from her classmates. "My name is Crystal Darby." She translated with a small smile. "Teacher's pet," one student growled in a whisper.

The rest of the day went on without a problem until a group of bullies, led by one of her classmates, cornered her on her way out of the school. "So, you're the smart one?" The gang leader growled. "My name isn't Velma." Crystal quipped as the reference flew strait over the bullies' heads and brought a smile to Crystal's face at their cluelessness. She sighed, shook her head, and turned to walk away as one of the boys punched her in the face. That was all Crystal needed. The young hybrid dodged all of the incoming punches with honed reflexes until a coach walled by and pinned the bullies to the wall. "Are you alright, miss?" Crystal nodded at the coach and smiled, but inwardly, she was angry. _Those punks better be glad I can't blow my cover._ Crystal thought as she walked out of the out of her first day of school to see her Dad waiting for her. He smiled at her and hugged her tightly. "How was your first day?" She let out a long sigh. "Some kids tried to beat me up for being smart." Jack's face reddened with anger at hearing that. "The coach saw the fight and put the boys in their place, though." Jack smiled, relieved.

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	21. MECH Meets its Match

Chapter Twenty-One: MECH Meets its Match

As Crystal rode home from school, she felt like they were being followed. She just shrugged and told herself it was her imagination. After a few turns though, the girl's hopes were quickly melting. "Daddy…?" She said with fear in her voice. Jack knew his daughter well enough to reconise fear when he heard it, looked back, and saw a green Hummer H1 tailing them. Cursing lightly under his breath, Jack swerved off the road and said, "Hang on, my gem." Jack punched the gas and created a large cloud of dust to hopefully blind his pursuer. The Hummer barreled through the dust cloud and continued to chase them, or so the driver thought. After a few miles, the MECH Trooper decided to double back. "I've lost Subject One." The trooper reported grudgingly. "Fall back for now," Silas ordered. "We will ferret them out soon enough." As Silas cut the communication, a gnarled smile formed on his marred face.

Jack was unnerved by the experience and tried to get Crystal home as soon as possible, but a certain red-head noticed him with a broad smile In the back of Jack's mind, he knew what was going through the girl's mind and gritted his teeth as she walked up and smiled at Jack. She then began to admire his "new car" with a very sensual undertone. As her hand went on his hood, Jack felt very uncomfortable as if the girl was feeling up his leg. To say the least, Jack was relieved when she stopped and knocked on his window. "Finally dumped that bike and got a decent ride, I see." She was dripping with sweetness, but Jack wasn't going to fall for it. "First off, no one said anything about me getting rid of my bike." He turned and glared at her. "Second," he leaned over and whispered to keep Crystal from hearing, but Sierra took it the wrong way just as Jack hoped she would and grinned wider. "I don't screw with whores. I already have a woman." As Sierra heard that, her jaw dropped. Then, her face formed an irritated scowl as Jack sped off to the house. "Who was that?" Crystal asked. "Someone I tried to hand out with before I met your Mom." Jack said calmly as he made sure no one was following them and made a B-line for the house.

Once there, Jack could feel Arcee fuming in his head. _That little bitch, I'll…_ Jack walked Crystal inside and, once he knew she was out of earshot, tried to defuse the situation. "Look," he said as he stared into her headlight. Arcee transformed and calmly looked at her Sparkmate. "She came on to me…and we ran into MECH on the way home from school." Arcee knew Jack wasn't trying to divert attention away from the subject of Sierra. He was much too serious for tactics like that. "MECH? What could they gain from…?" She stopped mid-sentence and growled. "I will go offline before they get Crystal!" Jack patted her shin comfortingly. "I will, too, but I say if Silas wants one part of my family, he'll have to deal with me personally!" Arcee's optics widened. "He'll kill you! You've seen the tech they've engineered to offline us!" Jack smiled. "They don't know I'm only half human." He said calmly. "I'll arrange a meeting, just me and Silas. If he betrays my trust, which I'm almost certain he will, I'll have a metal ped up his ass before he can say 'scrap'." Jack said with a calm smile. "I don't like it." Arcee said with a worried look. "What if he overpowers you?" Jack's smile turned to grim frown. "Then, he'll have Team Prime knocking down his front door." Jack told her as Jack's fist tightened beside him. "How do we find them? They are like ghosts." Arcee pointed out. Jack began to pace across the garage floor. "An operation like theirs would need ample power and shielding…" Jack turned around to face Arcee. His eyes lit up and he snapped his fingers. "I know exactly where they are. I'll be back. I need to talk to Ratchet." With that, Jack sped off toward the mesa.

At the Base, Jack hurried over to Ratchet. The grumpy medic was in an unusually good mood. He looked around for Crystal with a gleam in his optic. Jack thought he'd never see the day that Ratchet actually smiled, but Crystal brought out "Grandpa" Ratchet as soon as he heard her or saw Jack. The mood shift was starting to make Jack think Ratchet once had Sparklings of his own at one time or another. When Ratchet saw Crystal wasn't with Jack, his grumpy attitude returned. "I'm busy. What do you want?" The medic asked with an annoyed tone. Jack pushed aside his aggravation at Ratchet's abrupt mood swing and sighed. "I need you to scan a particular area for military chatter." Ratchet gave him a puzzled look. "What do you need me to do that for?" Jack glared up at Ratchet. He didn't have time for the medic's people problems. "MECH has been watching Crystal, and I think I know where their base is." Ratchet sighed as Jack continued. "Scan Hoover Dam for military frequencies." Soon, chatter came through the bases speakers. One conversation in particular caught his interest. "…child of Jack Darby will soon be a pawn for MECH." "Hack that-" Ratchet cut Jack off. "I'm already on it and done." Jack smiled darkly and spoke into his comm. "You want Crystal, Silas? Come meet me twenty miles outside Salt Lake City in two hours. Come alone, or you get nothing. Understand?" Silas was dumbfounded as Jack's voice came over his radio. Finally, after some quick deliberation within himself, Silas smiled. "Agreed."

Ratchet was fuming and gave Jack the back of his servo. Jack flew from his perch on Ratchet's desk into a wall across the room. "You would sell your own DAUGHTER to MECH?!" Ratchet yelled as he stormed over to Jack. "I'll throw you into The Pit myself!" Jack groaned but managed to choke out. "It's…*cough* a trap for Silas." Ratchet's optics went wide. He picked up Jack and laid him gently on a medical berth. Jack glared weakly at Ratchet. "I would never sell my daughter to those butchers!" Ratchet became distant once he realized his grave mistake. "I'm sorry. Megatron slaughtered my Sparkmate and our two Sparklings, twin mechs. I am…protective of any I meet because of that." Ratchet said quietly. Jack got the feeling that the old medbot never told anyone about that with the possible exception being Optimus. "He put a hand on Ratchet's servo. "Then, help me protect mine and trust me." Jack told him gently.

The majority of the two hours was spent giving Jack Energon intravenously because the Energon gave Jack an advanced healing factor that ranked somewhere between Wolverine and Deadpool's. When it finally came time for the meeting, to say Jack was amped up would be an understatement. Ratchet powered up the Groundbridge and gave Jack a final nod of encouragement before he passed through. On the other side, Jack activated his Mustang and dove to the rendezvous point. Once there, Jack was surprised to see only Silas. _So, the faggot can keep a deal. I'm impressed._ Silas nodded toward Jack. "Where is your little miracle, Papa Bear?" He asked with a sneer. Every word of what Jack said next hurt, but he kept himself under control. He kept in his mind why he was doing this, and that allowed Jack to power through. "The little pain is in the car sleeping. She finally shut up and fell asleep after almost a week of nothing but crying. Maybe you guys can put a volume control on the little brat!" Jack said calmly. "Oh, we will do more than that, Mr. Darby. Hand it over, and MECH will leave you be." Silas said as he stretched out his hands toward Jack.

Jack walked back to his Mustang, opened the door, and retrieved a bundle from the front seat. Jack then walked over to Silas and tensed as he gave the "baby" to Silas. Before Silas could realize he was double crossed, Jack chuckled. "There's one more thing you need to know about Crystal." Jack paused for effect. Then, he activated his suit. "She means more to me than anything!" Jack threw a pouch but Silas rolled out of it with superhuman speed. Trickshot chuckled. "I expected you to cheat somewhere along the way." Trickshot said. "Do you want to know how I got the name 'Trickshot'?' The bot smiled and turned away from the human. He then shot too high, and the Energon plasma went above both their heads. Silas laughed. "You call yourself a marksman?" He growled. Trickshot just smiled and turned to him. "I didn't." at that moment the blob of plasma landed on Silas, but he didn't scream in agony or fall over dead. The leader of MECH just walked to Jack normally. Jack soon saw why. Under the flesh of Silas which no longer existed, a metal human-like frame now walked up to Trickshot. "I am the perfect fusion of man and machine. I was Agent Simmons before the government shut Sector Seven down and turned it into an alien safe zone. Now, I am Silas." Trickshot just shook his head because he had no idea what the crazy machine-man was babbling about. "More machine than man…" Trickshot said before he transformed, and Jack got out. "How noble! You accept your death with dignity." Silas sneered. Jack smiled. "Came on, you overgrown tin can!" Jack said calmly. Before Jack could react, Silas had him by the throat. "One thing…" Jack grunted out. Silas relaxed his grip slightly, so Jack could speak and be heard. "…always disarm your enemy!" Jack growled before he shot off Silas' hand and dropped to the ground.

Jack quickly ripped the hand away from his throat and started blasting the cyborg. Every time a blast struck, the hole would stay open for only a second or two. Then, the wound would seal itself. Silas smiled at Jack's shocked expression. "Nanobot construction allows for near instant repair." _Nanobots…_ Jack thought to himself. Arcee was there with a solution. _They have to have a control_ _signal to stay cohesive._ She told him. He didn't question her and smiled. "The Nanobots are synced to your brainwaves." Jack mumbled to himself as he stared Silas down and went for the kill. Jack sprinted toward Silas, reached behind him, and jammed his hand into the lower bottom portion of Silas's metallic skull. The individual Nanobots worked together to keep Jack's hands away from its goal. After a good fifteen minutes, Jack finally could feel the slime that coated Silas' organics to keep them from drying out. Jack smiled and yanked hard. Jack could feel the brain stem snap away from its moorings. Then, the nanobots fell away into a pile of grey goo. Jack shivered and dropped the fibrous stick. "Ratchet, I need a bridge please." Jack said as calmly as he could.

On the other side of the bridge, Arcee was glaring at him, but the glare dropped completely when the last of Jack's emotional battle shell fell away into a sobbing fit. "You did what you had to do to protect your family." Jack stared into Arcee's glowing blue optics and found much needed strength in them. "I don't know what I'd do without you or Crystal." Jack said after he became coherent enough to speak. Arcee smiled and gently lifted him up to her optics. "We will always stay together." She told him gently.

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	22. Friction and Traction

Chapter Twenty-Two: Friction and Traction

Jack looked at Arcee's optics with fear in his own. "I killed someone today, Arcee, not a mindless drone…a person." He said to her as his voice shook with fear and pain. Arcee took her love in a gentle hug. "I'll go and get Crystal from school. You need to rest, Jack." She said to him gently. Jack laughed bitterly. "Arcee, thanks, but an apparent five year old riding on the back of sport bike would mean a lot of trouble for us if someone saw you and Crystal." He said calmly as he felt a small bit of hurt from Arcee's Spark. "I didn't mean it that way-" She gave him a small frown but just sighed instead of launching into a tirade about how Crystal was her daughter too. _Autobot_ _Rule Number One: Keep a low pro_ file. Arcee thought to herself as a lone tear stood in her right optic. She blinked it away before anyone could notice and walked up to Ratchet. "Ratchet," She asked. "Can you go pick up Crystal from school?" The old medic was elated as Arcee knew he would be. The old medic almost roared down the exit ramp with an unseen grin a mile wide. As Ratchet sped off, Jack deactivated his suit and went to Arcee's quarters.

"Arcee," Optimus said calmly as he walked up to her. "We have found a massive Energon deposit and require every available servo to be able to transport it all back to base." She looked up at Optimus, and the wise Mech could tell something was troubling her. She gave him a withering glare. "I am waiting for my daughter to get back from school." Optimus' optics widened as June, who was sitting on Optimus' right shoulder plate contently, whispered something in his audio receptor. He gave a slight nod to June and changed his mind about needing the femme's help on the supply mission. "If you feel you must stay here," he said to Arcee calmly. "Talk to Jack. The longer wounds of the Spark stay open, the harder they are to close." He told her with a kind look in his optics.

At the school, Crystal was just walking to the doors when those same boys who were harassing her ever since she started school came into view with mischief on their faces. She had been saved by the coach for most of their confrontations, but she was fed up with the little brats and wanted to teach them a lesson. They walked up to her in a very loose formation, if it could even be called such. She smiled. Her expression caused the confident looks on the bullies' faces to waver slightly. "What has you all happy, girl? There's no one here to protect you this time." He said as he looked around, and a smug smile returned to his face. His buddies laughed behind him as Crystal shook her head. "In my family," She told them as he cracked her knuckles and rolled her shoulders. "We have a saying: There's more to me than meets the…" She almost said "optic sensor" but caught herself. "…eye." The boys started rolling by this time, but Crystal couldn't understand why. "You want to fight or take about your eyes?" The leader asked as one of the underlings mumbled "…girls!" "Walk away now, and pain will be a minimum." They looked at her like she's just come from another planet. Then, the leader charged her.

That was his mistake. Cristal just simply stepped to the side with a shake of her head and an irritated sigh. "Ole!" She shouted as the boy ran past her into the steel door. He reeled back from it and recovered surprisingly quickly. The other two boys stared at Crystal in shock for a moment. Then, they decided to help and started throwing punches. Crystal had just caught one of the punches and flipped the owner of the fist in her grasp flat on his back as her comm. buzzed. "Uncle Ratchet!" She said as she put a finger to her ear and continued to fight with her free hand which utterly stunned her would-be tormentors. "I don't see you outside," Ratchet told her with an unseen smile. "Where are you?" Crystal sighed and smiled. "I'm just taking care of some pests." She said as the last bully ran off. She smiled, shook her head, and walked out into the sunlight of the afternoon. She then waved at Ratchet. He couldn't hide the smile in his voice as he said, "I see you. I'm in the second row from the front." She nodded, cut the connection, and got in the passenger side of the ambulance. While Ratchet was coming back, a certain red Aston Martin DBS was tailing them. He made sure to stay out of their lines of sight but got the feeling that they knew he was there.

In his and Arcee's quarters on base after a while of just sitting and staring at the wall, Jack sighed and was about to get up when Arcee walked in. "You want to talk about it, Jack?" She asked gently. He looked up at her. "Arcee, when I saw Silas look at the bundle in my arms, I saw ravenous beastly hunger, like a lion at the zoo about to snap up a raw steak." He paused and gripped her servo tight. That gesture let Arcee know how much what he was about to say next hurt him, that and an ache in her Spark. Then, he took a breath and breathed out slowly in an attempt to calm himself. "I knew when I saw his eyes, that animalistic hunger. I couldn't let him live, or I would have to deal with Crystal growing up to be afraid of humans and have her grow up looking over her shoulder all her life. I would not let that happen, so I did the only thing I could." He said with a calm voice, but his body showed the fear and anger he felt as his body shook violently with emotion. "Silas ceased to be human a long time ago. That's what I suspect." She said as she put her servo down, so he could climb on. She then lifted him up to optic level and met him optic to eye. "He stopped being human the moment he stopped caring about human life." Jack looked into the optics of his Sparkmate for a long moment. Then he smiled. _I don't know what I would do without you 'Cee_. Jack thought.

Arcee sighed. "I want to able to take Crystal to school sometimes, Jack." Jack looked at her and gave her a sad frown. "I know, but the only way I could think for that to work would be if you had a car seat welded to your tail and how would that work if you came into a battle and needed to transform?" Jack was surprised when he got a light slap to the head from her. "Where does your remote go, Jack?" It was then Jack facepalmed. _I'm such an idiot!_ Arcee smiled and consoled him mentally. _No, you were worried. There's a difference._

Jack and Arcee were drawn out of their mental conversation as they heard the sound of Ratchet pulling into the base, but there was also a stronger engine buried in the sound of Ratchet's. Jack's eyes and Arcee's optics narrowed as they heard Crystal let out a furious yell, glass breaking, a transformation sound, and Knockout screaming a storm of Cybertronian curses. "You slagging glitch! Look what you did to my windshield!" Arcee and Jack could not believe their eyes or optics. There, buried handle deep into Knockout's windshield, was a fireman's ax with a spider web crack that radiated out form the blade across the windshield. About ten feet away, in a ready fighting stance, Crystal stood with a pleased grin on her face.

Jack glared at Knockout and cracked his knuckles. Jack then stood in front of Crystal and looked down at her. "Go to your Mom." She pouted. "But Dad…!" He gave her a fatherly look and sternly told her, "Go." Crystal nodded and joined her Mom as she glared at her father. Knockout s faceplate actually contorted into a grin. "Where's your fancy suit, daddy dearest who managed to knock up a two-cube slutbot?" Jack glared murder at the former Decepticon medic. Jack managed to keep from charging Knockout at that comment, but a little anger did show itself as Jack hissed though clenched teeth, "What did you say?" Knockout growled with a smirk. "You heard me." Jack's eyes flashed with rage, and he began to pound Knockout with punches too fast to be seen. Before Knockout knew it, his back was being slammed against one of the base's walls repeatedly.

Knockout sank to his knees with a groan of pure agony, but Knockout was smiling. He began to chuckle. Then, it became the roar of a madman who just had a flash of insight. "You don't know. Do you, you dimwitted half breed?" Knockout didn't let Jack in on the joke as he began to shake and grow weak. Crystal looked at her Mom with fear in her eyes as she watched her Mom suffering from a similar state. "Using your abilities outside of your suit burns through what little Energon your body is able to store incredibly quickly." Knockout grinned and strolled over to Crystal, but Racket put a blade to the mech's neck. "Take one more step closer and you will see how fast your helmless chassis meets the ground." Ratchet growled.

Knockout was about to lunge for Crystal when Crystal felt something inside her snap. She glared so hard at Knockout that Unicron stirred in his slumber and created a small tremor. The tremor knocked Knockout off his peds square on his aft. Knockout looked up to see Crystal glare down at him with such hate and anger, it was unnerving. "First, you follow me home." She shrugged. "I can deal with that." Her face grew dark in a lightning's flash. "Then, you attack my Dad and by extension my Mom." She climbed up Knockout's chest as Knockout's chassis creaked in protest as the girl neared Knockout's optics. "Finally, you attempt to take me from my family." She seemed to glare into Knockout's very Spark with those words as she spoke them. "What do you think I'm going to do, Knockout?" Knockout gulped. Then, he realized a Cybertronian mongrel was intimidating him, the same mongrel he came for. "Lay down like a good little patient." Knockout growled as he took the girl in his servo with a sickly grin. "Soundwave, if you would be so kind…"

Knockout smiled as a Groundbridge opened, but he soon realized it wasn't his as a large silver servo slammed into his faceplate. The 'con fell to the ground at the force of the punch and sent Crystal flying in the confusion. Arcee found the strength to jump and catch Crystal. Knockout growled in frustration but received a slew of blaster fire from the bots, chiefly from Optimus, who was mad enough to kill over the ordeal. One bolt hit Knockout in such a way that it temporary fried his short term memory circuits. From there Ratchet sent Knockout into the desert through a Groundbridge while he was still in stasis.

 **Please Read and Review**


	23. Kristallnacht

Chapter Twenty-three: Kristallnacht

After Knockout assaulted Omega One, Jack and Arcee always had an eye on their daughter no matter where she went. Crystal was on her way home with her mother and dad when a strange Groundbridge opened. This one was blood red and made Jack freeze. "Ratchet, is the Groundbridge malfunctioning?" Jack asked though his comm. with a worried look aimed at the vortex in front of them. Ratchet shook his helm in confusion as he looked at the deactivated Groundbridge. "I shut it down to perform regular maintenance. Why do you ask?" Jack's breath caught in his throat. "Ratchet, there's a Groundbridge negative here." He said as he looked around it in mild fear. Jack tried to patch an image from his optics into Omega One's servers. Jack knew Ratchet found the picture. "By the Allspark!" Ratchet's voice made a smile crawl across Jack's face at his experiment being a success. "A Negative Groundbridge…" Ratchet mumbled in shock. "In the early days of Groundbridge technology, there were many instances of these portals. Whatever you do, do NOT enter it or get close to it. The portal will suck you in!"

That was when they saw Crystal walk up to the portal. "Crystal, stay back!" Jack ordered his daughter with a glare. "Daddy, it's not going to hurt me." Crystal countered with a light glare at her father and sighed before she walked a few feet away from the glowing and swirling red portal. That was when suction grabbed Crystal and pulled at her. "Daddy! Mommy! Help me!" She creamed as she began to cry. Arcee transformed and ran to her daughter. Then, she gripped Crystal's hand tightly in her servo. The femme heard her peds screeching in protest as the force pulling on Crystal. Jack activated his suit and gripped his Sparkmate's waist tightly. Even his mech body wasn't heavy enough to get any leverage on the portal's suction. With a growl the portal yanked them inside itself and promptly closed.

Crystal, Jack, and Arcee were knocked out by the force with which the portal threw them out of itself. When they woke, the family found themselves in a dark and freaky world. Jack would have said the odd portal was a Con Spacebridge if he didn't spot the ruins of the KO Burger through the fog. "What happened here?" Arcee asked with a warrior's tone as she looked around the dark and foreboding landscape with a bad feeling in her gut. The first thought that went through Jack's mind was about Crystal. "Calm down, honey." He said as he got out of his suit and held his daughter close. "Daddy, I should have listened, but I didn't and now…" She began to cry quietly. Jack rubbed his daughter's back comfortingly. "I hope you'll know now to listen to me." He said with a stern tone as she nodded slowly.

He picked her up and started walking to his Mustang when Jack heard a faint engine that was steadily growing louder with every passing second. "We have to move now!" Arcee yelled. Crystal buckled herself in as Jack "Dukes of Hazzard" slid over his alternate mode's hood and into the driver's side. Jack then shivered as he looked in his rearview and saw neon orange copy of Arcee. "What are you doing, Autobots?" Jack shivered and Crystal started to whimper in fear at the voice that came from the motorbike. _Arcee, we have a problem!_ Jack thought as he started to freak out a little bit. Arcee slammed into the orange imposter and started to fight with what appeared to be a repainted version of Arcee. "Get back to base. Lord Optimus demands your presence. Follow me!" Jack gave Arcee a look from his Mustang, and she gave him a slight nod. "Now, that sounds like a good idea," Jack said calmly. "I'll just stick with my family." Jack said calmly as he glared up at RC. She smirked. "No, you won't," She growled. "You, pathetic human, will die slowly and painfully."

Jack held his daughter comfortingly close to him as Arcee and RC stared each other down. "You won't touch him or my daughter, you piece of slag!" RC grinned. "Oh…you have a family? How nice…" She said with a dark smirk. That was when the sound of helicopter rotors ripped through the air. Jack was shocked when he looked up in the sky to see a white and very angular helicopter land on top of RC. Arcee couldn't believe her optics. Arachnid just saved her aft! "Come with me if you want to live, hu-" Airacnid stopped in her tracks and sadness glinted in her eyes when she saw him. "J-jack?" She said in a gentle but painful tone in her voice. Jack wanted to reach out and comfort the spiderbot, but then, he remembered who she was and glared at the Decepticon angrily. This surprised Airacnid, and to Jack's shock, the deadly masochist he thought he knew began to cry. Arcee was beside herself literally as she watched her most hated nemesis break down in front of her husband.

Airacnid's optics glowed deep green as she stared at Jack in shock. "You're dead!" This took Jack and Arcee by surprise. RC cackled at this. "I snuffed his very Spark." She said in a dark a very sadistic manner. Little Crystal was terrified at seeing a femme that looked so much like her mother regard her Dad with not only hate but also sadistic pride that caused her to admit it coldly and with no remorse what so ever. Such a reaction made Crystal scream in terror. The scream made Airacnid's optics grew wide, and she lunged at RC angrily with a ferocity that was reminiscent of her more conventional Airacnid. "You harm a molecule on that Sparkling's helm, and you won't remain online for long!" The pissed femme growled. Bleeding Energon and limping, RC walked off. "You're not worth it." RC groaned before she raced off with a weak and backfiring engine.

Arcee stared at Airacnid in shock. "What the-" Arcee remembered Crystal was listening and quickly reset her statement. "What just happened?!" Arcee growled at her angrily. "Hear me out." Airacnid said calmly. "I'm part of a group here to fight the tyranny of Lord Optimus. I can take you to a place where you can be safe." Jack smiled, but Arcee remained unconvinced. "Optimus would never endanger human lives." She growled. "Maybe where you come from but not here." Airacnid said with a weary and sad voice. Arcee walked off and sighed. She then turned back. "What do you think, Jack?" Arcee asked as she turned back to him with a slight frown. Jack sat thoughtful in his seat for a few moments. "We have nowhere else to go." Jack said calmly with a slight smile. _Just in case this Megatron's attitude isn't that different from our Megatron…_ She thought to Jack. He gave Arcee a slight nod and transformed into Trickshot. Arcee gave Airacnid a nod. Then, Airacnid put a digit to her audio and said, "Soundwave, I need a 'bridge, and inform Megatronus we will have two guests." There was no response other then the appearance of a Groundbridge. "Thank you, Soundwave." She said with a smile before her, Arcee, and Trickshot with Crystal in his arms walked through the Groundbridge with three of them very uncomfortable with the arrangement.

As the three dimensional travelers walked though the Groundbridge, Arcee was on edge. _The Nemesis_ wasn't that different in this universe, but it was noticeably brighter and well-polished. "This is totally bizarre…" Trickshot mumbled as his peds echoed in the unusually vacant halls. "Where are all the Vehicons?" Jack asked without thinking about it. "They are at the Autobot base waiting for orders from their lord and master Optimus." Airacnid said calmly as the statement sent a shiver up Trickshot's back. "Did I say something that disturbs you, Jack?" Airacnid asked as her spider leg peds moved silently on the deck of _The Nemesis_."It's just…I can't think of Optimus like that. My name is Trickshot by the way." Trickshot said with slight annoyance in his voice at hearing his human name at the time when they had agreed to refer to him by his Cybertronian alias for safety's sake. "If you're so worried, Jack, would you be ok with meeting Megatronus Prime?"

Arcee looked at Airacnid in shock. "Megatronus WHAT?!" Airacnid looked at Arcee with a laugh. It wasn't dripping with sadistic mirth but with friendly and joyous energy. "Wow." Arcee's optics went wide at the surprise. When Airacnid gave her an odd look, Arcee clamped her mouth shut. Trickshot could tell that Arcee was close to breaking and gripped her servo in his in an attempt to comfort her. "It will be alright, 'Cee. Don't worry." He said gently as Crystal stayed in her Dad's arms out of fear. The sight of the way they reacted to her made Airacnid's Spark shatter. How could she make them so fearful? What had her alternate self done to make them so scared of her?

As they walked into what should have been Megatron's throne, a voice echoed through the room that made Arcee's Energon run cold. "Airacnid, who are these guests?" Jack was shocked by who stood before him. "Megatron…" Jack intended it to come out with malice and anger but surprise prevailed. Megatronus picked up on this and smiled warmly at Trickshot. His optics warmed when he saw the recharging Sparkling in the mech's arms. "Who is that?" He asked with a gentleness that reminded Jack of Optimus. Trickshot saw no harm in telling Megatronus, but Arcee did not trust the silvery mech as much as Trickshot and trained her blasters on him. Megatronus looked hurt at this but nodded toward Arcee with understanding in his optics "The protective instinct of a carrier…" He said with a thoughtful smile. "I swear on my honor as a Prime. I will not harm you or the Sparkling." Trickshot smiled and walked up to the Prime as Crystal smiled at Megatronus. "I'm Crystal. This is my Mom and Daddy…" She gestured at them. "…Arcee and Trickshot." Megatron gave her a confused look. "Do you not mean 'Carrier' and 'Sire'?" Crystal gave him a confused look.

"Sir, let me show you." Trickshot said as he deactivated the suit and walked up to the mech. "I'm half human, sir. I didn't find out about my alien heritage until about a year ago." He said calmly. "I raised her in human culture." He said with a sigh. Crystal looked up at the giant silver mech. "I want to go home!" She cried with tears in her eyes. "How did you get here?" Crystal thought for a moment after she calmly climbed onto the titanic mech's knee and said, "Ratchet said it was a Negative Portal." "I see. Soundwave?" The faceless mech generated what looked to be a normal to Arcee and Trickshot but stunned the others on the ship. "It looks like a normal Groundbridge." Jack said calmly. "Shall we?" He asked as he took a digit and together the family of three walked through the portal happily.

 **I've been reading a lot of Shattered Glass FanFiction lately. I figured I'd try my hand at it. Please Read and Review.**


	24. Scars

Chapter Twenty-four: Scars

Jack and Arcee tumbled through the Groundbridge because gravity seemed to take the day off inside it. Jack held Crystal close as they crossed the unstable bridge. When the family finally made it out, they tumbled over each other. Ratchet heard the commotion and ran to the portal from where he was doing repairs. Arcee stood up and pointed her blasters at the old medic as he looked on in confusion. "Where are we, Ratchet?" Arcee growled. Ratchet was understandably confused. "Did you suffer processor damage in transit?" Ratchet asked with a look of professional concern. Jack looked up at the medic. "If you could see where we just came from, you would understand Arcee's reaction, Ratchet." Ratchet scratched his helm as Crystal began to stir in her dad's arms. She seemed to be struggling against someone's grip. "Mommy…" She mumbled as stopped moving in her sleep. Then, she sat up with a scream. "NO!" In a cold sweat, Crystal looked at him with absolute fear and began to cry. "Mommy was orange…and tried to kill us!" She said as she continued to shake because of the nightmare. "That is where we just came from, Ratchet." Arcee told him calmly.

The medic listened intently as Arcee and Jack recounted their tale of trans-dimensional escapades to the doctor. "So, in the world you visited, Autobots were the tyrants?" As Arcee nodded, the old medic shivered. "That has to mess with your processor." He mumbled as he held his helm in a servo. The computer bared an alert suddenly. All eyes in the room looked up to screen and saw another inverted portal open. This time, a person seemed to jump from the portal and look around in confusion. Optimus nodded toward the stranger and started giving orders, having been summoned from his quarters by the alarm. "Bumblebee and Arcee, you will go investigate the portal and the stranger." Ratchet looked at the Prime skeptically. "Optimus, with what Arcee and Jack just told me about what lies on the other end of that Bridge, I do not think it is wise to send Autobots." Jack nodded in agreement with Ratchet. "I need to go." Jack said. He couldn't tell them why because he didn't know himself, just a gut feeling. Arcee could feel the same thing through their bond. _I'll stay here with Chrystal._ She told him supportively. Jack smiled and, leery of the Groundbridge after the accident, dove to the coordinatesof the strange portal.

What Jack found at the odd portal was a girl with long black hair down to her shoulders, blue eyes, and a multitude of nasty scars along the length of her arms. He smiled kindly at the girl, but she glared at him and blasters popped out as her skin along the scars broke away to free the blasters. Jack's eyes widened. _Blasters surgically implanted in her arms?!_ Jack thought in shock. It was then he realized he was going to be in a firefight if he let his emotions activate his blasters. Jack put up his hands and looked at the girl calmly. "Easy. I won't hurt you." Jack told the girl as he cautiously approached her. "Where's Airacnid?!" She yelled as the blasters powered up and made the girl wince unconsciously. Jack remained. He took a shot in the dark. "Jacquelyn, listen," she froze when she heard her name. "You're not on your world anymore." He reached out a hand. "I can take you somewhere safe, but you have to trust me." He said to her with an out stretched hand. She took it with a glare. "If it were coming from anyone but me, I wouldn't listen. Alright me, what the hell is so different besides the obvious?" Jack spent the trip back explaining and trying to prepare his dimensional twin for the shock of her enemies as the good guys.

As Jack pulled in with the newcomer, Raf and Miko raced down to meet Jack and the new arrival. Miko was rapidly firing questions at Jacquelyn. The girl looked at the Asian teen in shock. "Mike?" She asked in utter confusion at one of her best friends looking so different Then, Raf spoke up with a kind smile. "I'm Raf." He said kindly. Jacquelyn looked at Jack as he scratched his head nervously. Then, she nodded understandingly. "I'm from a world where 'Cons and 'bots are swapped and apparently a few other things as well." She said with a slight blush. Then, she saw Ratchet, and all Hell broke loose. She screamed and started to back away from him. "Get away from me!" She started to back away frantically from the Medic and pushed herself into a wall with her blind feet and hands. "I'm not going to hurt you." Ratchet's attempt to soothe the scarred girl fell on deaf ears. She glared at him and the bots watched in horror as she again powered up her blasters and pointed them at the Medic. A commanding but gentle voice made Jacquelyn freeze. _It can't be!_ She thought in shock.

Optimus walked up, and Jacquelyn did a double take in shock when she saw Optimus. Instead of the brooding, irate, and deadly presence she expected; the girl saw kindness and concern in this mech's optics. Then, she saw him lean toward her and took a few steps back out of instinct. "Calm down. I was examining your wounds." Optimus told her with a deep but gentle voice. "If he does hurt you, he'll hear an audio full from me!" The new voice came from the Autobot leader's shoulder plate and brought tears flowing to the girls eyes as she cried out, "Mom?!" June blinked in surprise as well as everyone else in the room except Jack. Optimus set June gently on the ground, and the lost dimensional traveler swamped June in a hug. As the girl cried uncontrollably, Arcee took a step toward her. Jack made the femme freeze with a single thought. _Cee, your orange double probably killed her mom_. Arcee nodded and waited for the girl to calm down.

After Jacquelyn pulled herself together, she looked up from June's shoulder and noticed Ratchet about to pick up a small girl. The girl was a little taller than the average five year old, had raven hair with a pink streak of hair that stopped between her eyebrows, literally shining eyes, tan skin, and wore blue jeans with a blue shirt that had a Harley with a burning back tire on it. She was about to blast Ratchet to pieces when the little girl turned to Jack. Her eyes grew wide, and she yelled, "Daddy!" Then, the child took off like a rocket toward Jack. He calmly knelt and scooped up the speeding girl with little if no difficulty. "Someone had a good nap." He said with a chuckle. Then, the girl saw Jacquelyn, smiled, waved, and said, "Hi! I'm Crystal!" Crystal laughed. "You look like Daddy." She said innocently. The statement made Jacquelyn walk over to them and give Crystal a sad frown. "It's a long and not-so-nice story." Crystal understood with a shiver as Arcee smiled at Crystal lovingly. Then, it hit Jacquelyn like a ton of bricks. Arcee would never hurt her own Sparkling in this universe.

She was about to leave the family be when June approached her. The woman had a worried look on her face that reminded Jacquelyn of when her mom would take her to the doctor. The panic button went off in her head. "Relax, please," June said with a nurse's tone. "Ratchet wants to look you over." The panic in Jacquelyn's eyes was evident instantly. Before she could protest though, Jacquelyn's vision began to spin and an overwhelming pain burned in her chest and sent the girl to her knees before she could voice a protest.

Miko and Raf looked at Jacquelyn in worry. Raphael was more so worried because he knew the effects of Cybertronian weaponry firsthand and suspected the damage having such weaponry in an organic shell that wasn't built to handle the corrosive liquid that fueled it, unlike Jack's natural hybrid body. Ratchet had taught the boy enough to know the symptoms of Spark Formation in an organic when he saw it. That was very bad news for the girl. First, there was searing pain. Then, as the Spark grew in strength, it would burn away the body, and unless captured in a chassis, go to the Well. Raf shivered in fear for her. Then, he got an idea. "Ratchet, hook her to an Energon drip of .005 milliliters of Energon per minute…" June cut him off. "That would decompose her body faster!" The boy nodded. "Exactly… we can't save her human body, but maybe we can give her a Cybertronian upgrade." Ratchet nodded. "We would need to place her body in a chassis before the Spark can break free." Ratchet put a digit to his chin in thought. "Jack, what would you suggest for her alt, since she is you, well, sort of?" Ratchet asked calmly. "A sleeker version of mine would fit her well. That means a newer Mustang, probably the same shade of blue as Arcee."

Optimus nodded in approval of the plan. "Autobots, transform and roll out!" He said as Ratchet transformed, and June loaded the ailing girl in the back of Ratchet's alt mode before she climbed in. Optimus noticed and felt a hint of worry in his Spark for a moment before Raf powered up the Groundbridge and sent them close to a local dealership. It was after hours, so no one was around to happen upon them. Ratchet and crew found the car that Jack specified, and June gently put Jacquelyn in the car's driver seat. Apparently sensing itself in a suitable chassis, the Spark furiously burned through Jacquelyn's body and fused with the chassis. As the chassis grew to a biped form and stretched, the new femme looked around confused for a moment. Then, she screamed.

Up in _The Nemesis_ , Knockout had been working on something huge for weeks, a new weapon that could take a techno-organic apart easily, but his attention was diverted from this ultimate weapon when a new Spark popped online and made his mouth plate form into a grin. "I need a squadron of Vehicons to investigate a new possible recruit for the Decepticons." He said into his comm. "Yes, Lord Knockout," came the reply. Back on the ground with the Autobots, Jacquelyn was understandably freaking out, but in the mist of her freak out, the sound of jet engines approaching brought out her fighting instincts. She glared in the direction of the sound and saw the 'cons approaching. Before the others could blink an optic and come to her aid, Jacquelyn was dismantling the Vehicons with precision hand-to-hand skill. The style was ferocious and deadly, eerily reminiscent of Airacnid's combat style, but more controlled and less erratic. As Knockout watch the last Vehicon fall without any aid of the Autobots, he grinned. "She will do nicely." He said as his grin became a dark smirk.

 **Please Read and Review. I especially want to know what you think of Jacquelyn.**


	25. Paradign Shift

Chapter Twenty-five: Paradigm Shift

As soon as Jacquelyn left the base, Raf started to pace around the human area of the base in worry. "Hey, Raf, you ok?" Miko asked as she looked at him from the couch. "Honestly, I don't know, Miko." The boy said to her as he looked at the Asian girl in confusion. He was able to make sense of almost anything, but the way he felt as soon as they carried Jacquelyn away made no sense to him. He felt sick but also fine. The paradoxical feelings made Raf want to punch a wall because he hated not knowing what to do. He sighed and shivered. "No lagrimas, Raphael. Tu tiene diez y ocho años." He growled to himself. Miko was not a Spanish-speaking person by any stretch of the imagination, but she did pick up two words that puzzled her: diez y ocho "eighteen" and años "years". Raf then let out a long sigh and began to spill his guts to Miko about his strange feelings he was feeling. The girl grinned at him. "Awww…that's so sweet! You're in love." Raf's jaw understandably fell off its hinges.

Back on the battlefield, the bots approached Jacquelyn in a mixture of bewilderment and a mild amount of fear. She grinned at them. "I'm far from defenseless. My world's Airacnid taught me to fight." She explained to them. This got a raised eyebrow from Ratchet. "Are you two…Sparkmates?" He asked. Jacquelyn fought a gag. "No! She's my foster mother!" Jacquelyn glared at the old medic. Then, she realized why he thought what he thought and looked at him. "I'm sorry. It just took me by surprise." She said with a sigh. Optimus smiled. "It is about time to get back to base. Let's roll out." He said as he, Ratchet, and Jacquelyn transformed. June climbed in Optimus' cab calmly. It took the girl a moment to remember that Optimus was no longer the Decepticon she thought of him as.

As they rode back to base, Knockout armed himself with his prize weapon and smirked darkly as he imagined the pain in the aft techno-organic going offline while his Sparkmate bleed out of Energon, and the Sparkling became raw material for a new batch of experiments to duplicate the fusion of organic and Cybertronian biology into a single organism. That would be his crowning achievement. It would also provide a unique way of conquering Earth. Knockout chuckled. _Today will see the end of the Autobots and the rise of a new race._ Knockout thought as he let out an evil chuckle that echoed through his medbay and around the ship. "The first to fall will be by my own servo." He said with a twisted grin as he walked to the Groundbridge Nexus and activated one that locked on to the new Energon signal.

Suddenly, Jacquelyn saw a car rushing toward them in her mirrors. Her optics widened as she looked on in shock at the gentle medic she knew that rapidly approached them. "Knockout, is that you?" She said with a surprise in her voice. "Do I know you, beautiful?" The tone Knockout used made Jacquelyn shiver. He was acting like Ratchet the Mad Doctor. The evil medic always hit on her in a sickly manner that made her regularly stay awake before Airacnid recued her. The voice of Optimus tore through the air. "Autobots, defend!" Optimus and Ratchet turned their weapons on the approaching car and open fired. Knockout dodged and swerved the blasts. Then, he transformed and struck Optimus with what appeared to be an average Energon prod. Once the Prime fell under the effects of the prod, Ratchet ran at the Mad Doctor.

Before Knockout could strike Ratchet down, the sound of a Groundbridge opening reached his audios. "Ah, the human dwarf…" Knockout said with a dark grin. "You won't touch Ratchet or Jacquelyn!" He yelled as he jumped into the way of the prod. As the prod connected, Raf yelled in pain. The electric shock threw him back. Surprising everyone but Knockout, Raf recovered easily and landed on all fours. Raf glared hard at Knockout as his brown eyes flickered back and forth to blue optics. The Mad Doctor laughed. "My experiment seems to be a success!" Raf smiled, jumped up and gave Knockout punches so strong that the Mad Doctor was thrown back by the first punch and to the ground by the force of the second. "You will NOT harm my friends!" Raf growled as he landed on Knockout's chassis. Knockout smirked as he watched Raf start to teeter. "Be careful, little gnat." He said with a dark laugh. Ratchet picked up Raf as Jacquelyn started to beat Knockout. Optimus looked at the femme. "Retreat, now!" Optimus said authoritatively. Jacquelyn reluctantly listened and pulled back into the open Groundbridge.

At base, Ratchet worriedly looked over the boy. Miko glared at Raf. For once, she was the voice of reason. "What were you thinking, Raf?!" She asked as she walked up to the medical berth. Ratchet glared at the girl, but Optimus was the one to speak. "Now is not the time for interrogation, Miko." He said solemnly. Miko nodded but shot a glare at Jacquelyn which confused the femme. Miko then walked off as Jack and Arcee came back from a supply mission with Crystal. Jack dismounted from Arcee and walked over to the medical berth with worry in his eyes. Arcee joined her Sparkmate by the berth as they looked at the boy in worry. Miko sighed. "Lover Boy went all heroic and took a blast from Knockout's new weapon. It turned him into a techno-organic." Miko said calmly with a sigh.

Raphael sighed and groaned as he sat up. "What truck hit me?" He asked quietly. "You were turned into a techno-organic by Knockout's latest weapon." Ratchet said calmly. Optimus glared at the Groundbridge. "We have to stop him. I was a fool with Skyswipe because it took her being unwillfully Bonded to make her see the light. I fear Knockout will not turn. He took down Raphael without a moment's pause." Optimus' chassis shook with anger. "Today, this will end." He said with rage hiding under a very thin layer of calm. "Mom, will you watch Crystal?" June nodded. "Please, be careful." June said calmly as she looked at Optimus with worry and looked at Jack and Arcee. "Take care of my son, Arcee." She said calmly. "I always will, June." Arcee said as Jack activated his suit, and together the entire force of Autobots, minus Ratchet to keep an eye on Raphael's condition, marched into the Groundbridge locked onto Knockout.

Knockout was in the middle of a street race. Optimus normally would have objected to Arcee and Trickshot joining the human illegal race, but it was the perfect shot to take the head of the snake once and for all with an ambush. Knockout almost instantly recognized the Autobots in the lineup. "So…Optimus is going slack on the rules?" Knockout taunted with an unseen grin. "No, this is a plan." Arcee said coldly. "A plan, you say?" Knockout scoffed. "Yes…" Trickshot growled with a glare as he slammed into the side of Knockout's door. "Why…you little…" Knockout laughed from inside his alternate mode. "This wouldn't be over that little former human. Would it?" He asked with amusement in his voice. Trickshot ran into the back of Knockout and sent him down a gorge. As he tumbled down to the bottom of gorge, Knockout transformed and, with a metallic screech, landed on his peds just in time to be sent flying as a massive black fist with green armor.

The Decepticon was still reeling from Bulkhead's punch when he was punched in the back as he heard beeping. "Ah…Bumblebee…what's wrong?" He asked with a calm smile. Optimus walked up and glared at Knockout. "You are going to go offline, Lord Knockout." Optimus said coldly before he lunged at the 'Con. Knockout rolled out of the way of that attempt at an attack just to receive two peds to his back as Arcee and Jacquelyn. Knockout looked at Optimus and smiled as he wiped Energon from his lip with a smile. "What, Optimus?" Knockout asked the Autobot leader with a cough. "No peace talks like you would with Megatron?"Optimus glared harder. "Talks of peace evaporated when you almost killed Raphael. At least Skyswipe had the decency to leave the human children be. You have no such redemption." Optimus said as his blade engaged and he ran Knockout through. "No…" The 'con groaned. "…my finish! You damned...slagerrrr!" Knockout growled as he fell off Optimus' blade, and Knockout's optics slowly dimmed to black. "It is done." Optimus said solemnly. "Ratchet, the Decepticons are headless. We require a 'bridge." Ratchet was too stunned to speak but did activate the portal before Team Prime returned, finally victorious.

As the bots walked through, Raf groaned but instantly brightened when he saw Jacquelyn. She smiled. "I'm glad to see you are doing well." Jacquelyn said as she walked over to Raf. Raf smiled as his eyes flickered to optics and back. "I guess I'm doing ok considering Im now only half human." He said with a shiver. "At least you're still part human." Jacquelyn said quietly as she looked away. Raf put a hand on one of her digits and smiled at her. "Hey, it's not all bad. You have us." He said with a grin as he added in his head, _…and you have me._ "Thank you, Raphael." Raf shook his head with a smile "Please, call me Raf." He told her with a smile as Miko snickered and started humming "K-I-S-S-I-N-G".

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	26. Shock and Awe

Chapter Twenty-six: Shock and Awe

It has been two months since Jacquelyn came to a world opposite her own. She has adjusted well considering. Today, she and Jack were planning a surprise party for June. Jack had not failed to notice that, for reasons supposedly unknown, June's eyes started to glow Autobot blue around Cybertronians, he, and Raf from a few weeks now. She continued to deny it, but clearly she and Prime had gotten Bonded. Jack was happy for his Mom, but he still tried his best to avoid details. Those were mental images Jack did NOT want in his mind. Jack smiled as he drove home from another uneventful day as Jacquelyn called him on his comm. "Jack, I'm almost ready with the party. I just need to know where to put the banner." She used her holoform for most of the work and had to consume Energon regularly, but it was worth it. She told him with a smile in her voice. Jack sighed and continued driving. "Put it across the entrance." He said with a smile. Over the comm. link, Jack heard paper crinkling as Jacquelyn picked up a package of some sort. "Jack, did you order Mom a gift?" Jack's Spark skipped a beat as he pushed his accelerator to the floor. "I didn't. Don't open it!" Jack cut the connection and broke a few speed records getting to the house.

As he jumped out of his alt mode, Jack sprinted to the door and almost flew to the table where the parcel lay, undisturbed. Jack glared at it and slowly approached. When he put his right hand on it, he felt a jolt and heard a familiar, sadistic cackle in his adios. "Airacnid…" Jack growled. The way Jack said her guardian's name sent a shiver down Jacquelyn's back. "It's me, Jack." She said in a grand tone that reminded Jack of an actor who was trying to put too much drama into their character. It was really annoying. Jack shook his head with a glare. She seemed to smile wider over his hacked comm. "Tell me, Jack. Where are your mother and daughter?" Jack's ire rose to new levels. "You lay a digit on either of them, and I'll…" Airacnid cut him off with light laughter. "You know how much how much I enjoy sport? Don't you Jack?" Jack fought a barf as he listened to her almost flirtatious tone. He saw a location, coordinates, and a timer appear on his visual. "The clock is ticking, Jack. Good hunting." The way she said it made his stomach roll. It was as if the spiderbot though she was dating him.

Jack shook those thoughts from his mind and ran to his alt mode. He then gunned his engine and went down to the factory. What Jack saw made his Spark and heart stop for a beat or two. On two silos were his Mom on the left of him and two hundred yards away attached to another silo was Crystal. When Crystal saw her dad, she started yelling. "Daddy, save me, please!" Airacnid smiled at him and hissed. "Yes, Jack, choose." She said as she smiled at him with a demented sweetness. _Arcee, I need you!_ Jack yelled at her through their Bond. Jack expected Arcee to jump to his rescue any second. "Aw…Such a shame when you have performance issues." Jack felt Arcee's rage pile on his own and tackled the spiderbot with a yell as he activated his battle suit. "I will rip out your beating Spark!" Trickshot yelled. Airacnid groaned seductively. "How'd you know I like it r-"

The creak of metal brought Trickshot away from his target as he saw the catwalks that held the two cocoons start to give. _Damn it! ARCEE!_ Jack all but screamed through the Bond. His desperate plea was answered by the sound of a Groundbridge and a back tire burning across Airacnid's face. "Go for your Mom. I'll get Crystal." She said as she sped toward their daughter and Trickshot toward his Mom. Airacnid smiled and shot Arcee's alt mode. As Arcee transformed with a scream of pain and slammed into a building, Crystal became frantic. "No!" As Crystal glared at Airacnid, the Sparkling femme felt a pressure grow on her back. When the pain got to the point where the girl almost screamed, the webbing snapped, and Crystal saw the culprit of her pain out of the corner of her optics. Two lightly armored wings spouted out of her back in a "V". The femme glared harder at the target of her rage and poured more Energon into her thrusters which she realized kept her aloft when her cocoon broke. The new Flier shot off like a bullet and slammed into Airacnid with all her strength. The black femme was hit so hard, she fell to the dirt, in a mild stasis lock. "Stay down!" Crystal growled as she started to feel dizzy.

Arcee shook her helm in shock as she sat up and stared at Airacnid's motionless chassis with something hovering over it. When its thrusters started to waver, Arcee realized in a slight panic that the Flier was Crystal and lunged to catch her in a waiting servo. With a tired sigh, Crystal's thrusters shut down, and the femme landed in her mother's servo in a deep recharge. Trickshot looked at his mother with a smile. "Hang on, Mom." He said with a smile. "This could be interesting." Trickshot mumbled as he raised his arm blade to cut the woman free. Trickshot blinked his optics as he calmed down enough to actually think and cut the cocoon's mooring with one arm. June screamed until she realized her restrained body was safe in her son's other servo. Trickshot set June down safely on the ground before he cut her free. Airacnid roused and lunged at the reunited family. Trickshot smirked and cut open the black femme's Spark chamber and glared at it with anger and disgust. _Arcee, block Crystal's optics._ He thought to her, unaware of his daughter's current state. Regardless, he did not want his daughter to see what he was about to do. Trickshot gripped the Spark, ripped it out of Airacnid, watched her optics dim out, and crushed the still beating Spark.

As June gave Trickshot a thankful smile, he felt panic well up inside him from Arcee and sprinted over to her. The femme jogged over to him and was careful not to drop Crystal in the process. "We need a Bridge, Ratchet." Trickshot yelled over his comm. link. "It's Crystal." The Groundbridge opened and the normally grumpy and solitary Medic took Chrystal gently in his servo and carried her to a waiting medical berth. He gave a slight smile to little femme as he hooked her to an IV drip of Energon with June's help. "So you're a Flier?" He mused aloud as he looked at the worried parents. Jack shed his suit and was now on the berth and gripped Chrystal's right hand as he looked at her worriedly. Ratchet noted the worry on both Jack and Arcee's faces. He looked at them kindly. "She'll be alright. The strain of using her thrusters at full power without practice pushed her Energon reserves to critical. She needs to rest and refuel. Then, she will be 100%." He told them as Jack and Arcee took a collective sigh of relief.

Then, Jack had a question. "Ratchet, how is Crystal a Flier?" The Medic shook his head with a slight smile. "That's a complex subject, but basically, it boils down to genetics, the same way a Sparkling is either a mech or femme." He said with a smile. "She will need larger Energon rations because of her thrusters, but with practice, her body will become more efficient with the Energon." Arcee and Jack nodded in understanding. Jack sighed. "Who's going to teach her?" He asked a little scared for his daughter. Ratchet grinned. "Jack, I was looking over your and Raphael's scans. Both of you have thrusters on your peds, and you can fly if you need to in an emergency." Jack's eyes went wide. "Uh…Ratchet, are you sure about this?" He asked. Ratchet sighed. "Really, all she needs to do is fly around some…like when you were learning to use your blasters." Ratchet told Jack as Crystal began to wake.

She sat up and looked around in confusion. "What happened?" Crystal asked sleepily. "You protected me." Arcee told her daughter with a proud smile. "Really?!" Crystal asked as her eyes glowed with delight. After she slid off the berth with Jack's help, Crystal walked up to Miko and flexed her wings. The movements got Miko's attention and made her head shoot up from her phone. Once Miko saw the wings, she jumped back and yelled, "'CON!" That brought blasters to bear around the room. Bulkhead saw what was going on and sighed as he disengaged his blaster. "Not all Decepticons are Fliers, Miko. Knockout and Breakdown both have cars for vehicle forms." Miko blinked and looked apologetically at the girl as Crystal tried to take her human form but couldn't because of her wings. This caused her to start to cry as she ran to Jack. By the time she plowed into him, she was a fountain of tears. "D-daddy…I d-don't want to be a 'Con!" She said as she heaved down air and cried into Jack's shoulder. Jack shot Miko a deadly glare as Miko mouthed, "I'm sorry." Jack continued to glare at her even as Optimus walked into the Ops area. It was almost unsettling how fast the Prime reacted when Crystal was upset. June wasn't that far ahead of Prime, but she knelt by the trembling femme.

Jack smiled and wiped the tears from Crystal's optics. She looked up at Jack as he opened his mouth to speak. "'Autobot' or 'Decepticon' is a choice." He said as pulled her close. She stopped shaking and smiled. "You can ask Optimus for more, Sweetheart." He told her with a smile. She looked up at Optimus who gave her a nod and a smile. His voice was surprisingly gentle as he picked the femme up in a servo and lifted her to optic level. "The choice is always yours." He said as his smile widened. AS Optimus set Crystal down of the floor, a blue 2014 Mustang came into the base. Optimus chuckled. "I asked Jacquelyn to move the party here." Optimus said to Jack's confused look. Jacquelyn transformed and yelled, "Happy birthday, Mom." The woman's eyes widened and began to glow especially as a certain Prime knelt and pulled a necklace made of a silvery metal out of his subspace compartment and gave it to her. As she put it on, their eyes and optics intensified for a brief second. "Happy birthday, June." The Prime said as he looked at her.

While the festivities were going on, a ship landed on Luna. The ramp from the strange, angular craft landed on the dirt and stirred ancient dust. Light from inside the ship poured out to show a feminine silhouetted figure disembark from the ship. As she stared at the Earth, a frown formed on her lips. She gave an all clear as ten other's followed suit. "Why are we here, Solaris?" The tallest mech asked. "Vector, our old enemy awakens."

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	27. Choices

Chapter Twenty-seven: Choices

Optimus looked up from the party and blinked as he felt a desire to go outside and send an ultra-luminous beacon to the moon. As the Prime got up to heed the strange urge from the Matrix, June looked at him worriedly. She could feel his unease though their Bond, and it scared her. Optimus did his best to calm the woman's fears. "It will be alright. Trust me." She gave him a nod and watched the red and blue mech leave with a sigh before she walked back to her own party. Jack noticed the look of sadness on her face and stopped talking to Arcee the moment he saw the look. It was the look of a gambler who had thrown all of their chips into the center in a desperate play for a win and wasn't too sure of the outcome of the game. "You're scared of a repeat. Aren't you, Mom?" Jack asked with the look of someone far older than nineteen. The woman looked at her son and gave a slight nod before she began to let the tears fall. "I know Megatron is in self-imposed exile, but I can't help feeling like I'm going to lose Optimus like your father." She told him with an unconscious shiver at that very unpleasant thought. Jack smiled. "Optimus is a tough bot, Mom. He won't go to The Well easily." Jack said as he smiled kindly at June.

Crystal looked around the room and didn't see the bot who was, for all intents and purposes, her grandfather. The young Flier looked around and jogged out the base after Optimus left. When she walked out, the cold desert night are welcomed the young girl and made her shiver. The Crystal, not dressed for the cold, looked around to make sure no one saw her, took to her Cybertronian form, and put her clothes in Subspace before she continued. Crystal could never figure out why, but she always felt more comfortable in her bot form instead of her human one, in spite of the fact that her bot mode was only about as tall as her Dad. The girl continued on with a smirk as she dulled her temperature sensors and debated taking to the air. Again, she arrived at a confusing feeling. The air offered freedom and mobility, but the ground offered relative safety and sureness. With this debate going in her mind, Crystal broke into a trot as she saw a large mech standing in the middle of the desert. When she got close enough, the young femme froze and stared at the form of Optimus Prime as light shot from his chest into the sky. _What is he doing?_ Crystal thought to herself as she stayed back and watched as the magnificent blue light shrank and faded until darkness surrounded the Prime once more.

Meanwhile, the original Starscream dressed his wounds in the aftermath of his failed incursion of Omega One. "Stupid clones! They failed to follow my flawless plan, and it nearly scrapped me!" He shrieked to no one as he refueled with a stockpile of hidden Energon in a cave when he saw a bright flash. The Seeker's helm shot up in response to the light. His optics narrowed as the strange light focused itself into a broad beam. "A signal?" The Seeker wondered aloud as he began to pace in thought. As he turned to look at the signal again, Starscream noticed a small Seeker life signal near the beacon. His programming screamed at him to assist the young Seeker. Starscream fought back by telling himself it was an Autobot trap to draw him out and finish him off. _The Autobots were not that ruthless in battle strategy._ He thought. _Were they?_ The Seeker mech mulled it over. _The halfling called Trickshot did seem more brutal than other Autobots. Maybe he convinced the Prime to fight dirty?_

As those thoughts went around and around in Starscream's processor, Optimus sighed, began to walk away from the beacon, and almost didn't hear the sound of jet engines as they roared overhead. Optimus stopped and glared into the sky. Starscream dropped out of the sky and gracefully landed on his peds. "Hand over the Seeker, and no one goes offline!" Starscream growled as he pointed his missiles at a confused Optimus Prime. "We have not captured any Seekers, Starscream. Stand down!" The Prime told Starscream. Crystal's optics went wide, and she looked at herself. _Am I a Seeker?_ She thought as she noted that her body shape was like Starscream's. _Why does he look like a femme?_ She added as an afterthought. "Um…Optimus?" Crystal asked as she stepped out of her hiding place behind a rock and looked up at the mech with fear in her optics. As Optimus turned and saw Crystal, the girl shivered in fear. Starscream almost blasted Optimus for scaring the young femme until the mech reached down and picked her up in his servo. "What's wrong/" Optimus asked. Crystal hesitated before answering.

As she opened her mouth to answer, a blue street bike and its rider slammed into Starscream. The Seeker was sent peds over helm to the ground. The Seeker shrieked in annoyance and pointed his weapons at Jack and Arcee. "What were you doing, young lady?" Jack asked his daughter in a firm but gentile voice. She hung her helm. "I was worried about Optimus and followed him out of the base. Out of nowhere, Starscream came up and looked like he wanted to offline Optimus. I-" Starscream interrupted Crystal. "You are a Seeker, young one. Come with me. Take to the air where you belong. I will teach you to be a proper Seeker." Crystal saw her Mom shiver and turned to the two-wheeler with concern on her faceplate. "What is a Seeker?" Crystal asked. She heard Starscream warm up for a Ratchet-style lecture and hushed him angrily. "I asked Mom, NOT you!" Arcee sighed. "Seekers are Fliers who choose to be 'cons and are programmed to find Energon and other potential Seekers. They form Triune Bonds with other Seekers."

Crystal shivered in revulsion at the thought and jumped from Optimus' servo to Arcee's in an attempt to get as far away from Starscream as possible. Jack looked up at Arcee. "Take her back to Base. I'll be a few minutes." Arcee nodded and almost felt sorry for Starscream as she rode away with Crystal on her seat. Jack activated his suit and cracked both sets of metallic knuckles as they groaned and popped menacingly. "Optimus, you probably don't want to see this." Trickshot said as he looked at the Prime. The mech nodded, put a servo on Trickshot's shoulder, transformed, said to Starscream, "May the Pit greet you.", and raced off. That unsettled Starscream greatly. He never heard the Prime curse before.

Trickshot glared at Starscream with death in the young father's optics. Starscream yelped and tried to run, but Trickshot caught the Seeker by a ped and spun him around quickly. The Seeker felt his gyrostabilizers spin wildly before Trickshot threw him up in the air and blasted Starscream's wings off. As a result, the 'con plummeted to the ground and crumpled with a painful groan to the Earth below. As Starscream tried to get to his peds, he felt Energon drip from his mouth. The slim Flier had just enough time to wipe the Energon from his lip before a fist collided with Starscream's faceplate and sent a shower of sparks from where the fist impacted. Starscream cried out in pain, but the fists never stopped coming. When Starscream groaned and rolled off the last punch onto the ground, he heard peds walking away and thought, _It's over!_ Starscream sat up and expected to find himself alone.

Starscream's hopes were dashed when he saw Trickshot chain him to four posts, each connected to a limb. "The Ancient Romans called this 'quartering'." Trickshot told him. Trickshot then picked up the Seeker in one servo and punched as hard with the other. Starscream felt his articulations at his hips and shoulders strain painfully as the momentum of the punch tried to push Starscream even as his chains pulled his limbs back toward the ground. With a sickening _Snap!_ and a scream of utter agony, Starscream's torso and hips pulled free of his limbs. Energon gushed from the four gaping holes in Starscream's body as he crashed back to Earth. Trickshot walked over to the dying Starscream and knelt before Jack got out of his suit and landed on Starscream's chest in such a way to look the Seeker in his optics. "You don't EVER threaten my daughter like that and stay online for long." With that said, Jack reactivated his suit and shot back to base.

As Starscream felt himself offline, a dark laugh greeted his adios. "I've never seen a Prime so quickly topple. You are much more useful to me online than off, Seeker." Starscream sat bolt upright and saw a rippling face made of Dark Energon. "U-Unicron, the Chaos Bringer?!" The Dark Energon face gave a slight nod as Starscream's optics widened in shock. "My last attempt to snuff the Primes' Sparks forever failed because my last follower did not wish to harm the Prime and fought my power! You will not be as foolish." Starscream stood and grinned as he bowed to the face. "I will serve you well, my lord!" The face grew furious in an instant. "Did I ask you to speak?!" Then, a cloud of Dark Energon engulfed Starscream. As the power of the Dark Energon strengthened and changed Starscream's body, he began to laugh as the power Starscream craved became his. "I AM SUPERNOVA, HEROLD OF UNICRON!"

At Omega One, the proximity sensor went off in the vault. This had Ratchet scratching his head until he saw it fly out of the base and cut a ninety degree turn up the mesa. "That's impossible!" Ratchet exclaimed. Optimus walked up and frowned at the Medic. "You forget the myths of the Primes, old friend." Ratchet laughed. "No offense, Optimus, but those same myths say Solaris Prime's offline body created The Well."

A clear femme's voice cut through the air. "Who are you calling offline, Ratchet?" Team Prime turned to the voice to see Solaris prime with Forge in hand as it sparked and spun with renewed power. "Father has called for a meeting of the Primes. Unicron has a new emissary. Father knows this surge in power will reawaken him." Jack walked up. "We barely survived a sleepwalking Unicron. How can he be beaten?" Solaris giggled. "Remember Vector Sigma only activates for a Prime, Trickshot...Prime." Jack's eyes got huge. "I'm a-" She nodded. "You, Arcee, your carrier, Raphael, Jacquelyn, and…Airacnid Prime from Jacquelyn's world reconstitute the missing of the Thirteen that joined Primus. It is the will of Primus, and it shall be."

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	28. Til All Are One

Chapter Twenty-eight: 'Til All Are One

Jack looked at Solaris Prime in minor confusion. "You said Airacnid from Jacquelyn's world is part of the new Thirteen. How are we supposed to get back to Topsy Turvy World? We only got there by accident last time." The femme Prime nodded. "Trickshot Prime, oh ye of little faith." She said with a smirk on her faceplate as she hefted her large Forge and slammed it down on the Groundbridge controls. Ratchet's optics almost popped out of his helm. "Solaris, we needed that!" He yelled. The statement made Jack, Miko, and Raf start laughing. "Father never builds anything for the purpose of destruction, Ratchet. Examine the controls until you are satisfied, if you feel you must." She told him calmly as she stepped away from the controls. Ratchet walked over and gasped in amazement at what he saw. "You created a stable trans-dimensional bridge function for the Groundbridge!" Astonishment and wonder were evident in the old medic's voice as he spoke. This earned a smile and a sad shake of her helm from Solaris. "After all the stellar cycles of studying Creation from within, you are still doubting." She told him.

Her gaze then shifted to Arcee and Jack. "You, Arcee, and Jacquelyn Primes will go to the World of Shattered Glass and retrieve Airacnid Prime." Arcee and Jack looked at Crystal. Jack looked the young girl in the eyes. "Go and play." He told her. The girl nodded and walked off. Once she was gone, Jack produced three cans of aerosol spray paint. He tossed two cans of neon orange spray paint to Miko and Raf who grinned a bit mischievously at Arcee. She rolled her optics. "I hate orange." She mumbled as she transformed to make application easier with a sigh to voice her opinion on the paint job but let them paint her in spite of this discontentment. "Now, you look like your double. I don't want to change those beautiful optics though…" Arcee looked at him. "They are the only way to tell me from that monstrous imitator." She told him. Jack nodded. He hadn't thought of that little detail. He then looked at Ratchet and nodded to let the medic know they were ready. With that signal, Ratchet powered up the dimensional bridge. Arcee and Jack stepped through the portal, a shared heaviness settled on their Sparks.

On the other side of the portal, Jack and Arcee quickly got to work or tried to. They quickly realized they had no way to locate Airacnid. That was when Jacquelyn let out a hiss of pain and fell to her knees. "Airacnid is being held in the Autobot fortress." She hissed out through waves of pain. Jack and Arcee both looked at the alternate in shock. "How do you know?" Arcee asked. "When Ratchet made me a techno-organic, he needed a Spark to be able to properly feed my Cybertronian parts Energon. In true Mad Doctor fashion, he captured Airacnid and cut her Spark in half while she was still awake." Jacquelyn shivered as the phantoms of Airacnid's screams during that time came freshly to her adios. "Then, he took half her Spark and put it in me." Jack suddenly had a realization. "That's why your body didn't last but a few minutes once your own Spark formed." She nodded sadly. "My body was slowly dying from radiation poisoning before that."

Jack shivered. Then, he chuckled as an idea came to him. Arcee noticed and looked at her Sparkmate as a single phase was shared through their Bond: _Star Wars._ Arcee looked at Jack perplexed. "I'll explain when we get closer." He said as he used his Pretender Protocols to invert his colors and started toward Omega One. As they neared Omega One, Trickshot became more and more uneasy. About two hundred yards off, Trickshot, Arcee, and Jacquelyn transformed. "I'm not going to be Chewy!" Jacquelyn hissed in a low whisper as she glared at Jack. Arcee was now really confused as she looked between the two of them. "What does this have to do with food texture?" Arcee grumbled to which Trickshot just shook his head with a small smile on his faceplate and said, "When this is over we are having a Star Wars marathon. Then, you'll meet the 'Walking Carpet' and hopefully understand." Trickshot said as he produced a pair of stasis cuffs.

"I really fragging hate you, Trickshot." Jacquelyn growled as they walked up to the guarded gate. "Halt." A Vehicon growled out. The trio tensed. "What are you doing with this Decepticon scum?" Trickshot smirked. "Prisoner transfer from Cell Block 1138." He said. The Vehicon looked at Trickshot and Arcee before he said, "I wasn't notified. I'll have to clear it." As the Vehicon said that, the rigged cuffs malfunctioned and allowed Jacquelyn to use her blasters. "Look out!" Arcee yelled as she an Trickshot quickly shot the guards in a bout of "friendly fire". "Stay here, Arcee. You won't be detected as easily." Trickshot reasoned as she nodded and stayed at the desk. As Trickshot and Jacquelyn went deeper into the base, Jacquelyn thought, _It would be utterly bizarre if Airacnid turned out to be my sister._ Then, the dreaded kiss of Episode V flashed into the femme's possessor. "By The Pit, no!" She mumbled as she gagged at the thought while she continued down the detention block.

"Trickshot, I've found her!" Jacquelyn called over her comm. link. Trickshot jogged back to Jacquelyn's position and shivered. The Spiderbot still made Jack nervous, but her current state terrified him more. She had deep cuts all over her armor that leaked Energon like Niagara Falls. "Damn. I have to close these up, or she won't make it back to base online." Trickshot growled as he began to weld Airacnid's wounds shut. After Trickshot finished, Airacnid got to her peds and looked up as her blue optics showed her surprise. "Who are you?" She asked as she looked at the tall femme that stood by Trickshot. Jacquelyn was tempted to say, "Luke Skywalker," but decided against it. "I'm Afterburner." She said as the trio headed back toward Arcee. _Signal Ratchet for a Bridge when you see us._ Jack told Arcee though their Bond. The four Primes jumped through the portal. Just like that, The Thirteen were whole and ready to face their true enemy: Unicron.

On the other side of the portal, Supernova was gloating mindlessly over Autobot comm. channels just as Starscream would have done. "New powers, but the same old Starscream." Bulkhead mumbled with a chuckle. "This is a serious matter, Bulkhead." Optimus reprimanded. "Everyone needs to focus on the objective. Stop Unicron and Supernova with minimal human casualties. Understood?" June said as she looked everyone in the optics or eyes. All nodded. It was unnerving how powerful her gaze was now that she was a Prime and Bonded to Optimus. Jack thought his Mom's eyes could now literally burn a hole in his Spark. The thought made Arcee laugh over her and Jack's Bond. Then, as one The Thirteen marched out of the Groundbridge to Supernova's location.

It was incredibly eerie as the Primes walked across the dusty plateau toward Supernova. The emissary of Unicron split himself into twelve copies and one original. Then, with an echoing and arrogant laugh, the Supernovae charged their foes. The battle was fierce. Metal flakes and sparks flew across the battlefield, but it was clear Dark Energon sapped our heroes' strength faster than anticipated. Their attacks began to slow, and they became less and less quick to dodge. As it looked like they would be beaten, Trickshot heard a voice. _'TIL ALL ARE ONE!_ The voice shouted in his mind. The young Prime repeated the mantra "'Til all are one. 'Til all are one!" Louder and louder, the young Prime's voice rang out. He grew stronger with each repeat. The others stared as Trickshot's body began to exude a blue aura. Then, they joined his shouting. Quickly, the battlefield grew in hue to the point that a blue aurora filled the sky above.

Emboldened by their new strength, the Primes attacked with refreshed zeal and vigor. Round two was on. This time, the Supernovae got their afts handed to them. The clones vanished one by one as they were destroyed, but each one destroyed donated his strength to those that remained. Even the continual boosts as the Supernovae were defeated did not give the clones much of an edge, if it could even be called that. Finally, only one remained. He shook in fear, trembling as he stared into the blazing optics of the Primes. "Master," Supernova pleaded. "They are too strong! I need more power." A booming voice roared and rumbled from underground. "YOU HAVE FAILED ME! SUFFER THE CONSEQUENSES OF YOUR FAILURE!" Unicron's voice carried over the valley as pure evil. As the voice faded, Supernova was drained completely. All that lay in a heap was Starscream's dried chassis.

The Primes scarcely had a moment to register what had occurred when the ground cracked beneath them and filled purple and pulsing Dark Energon. The effects sent the Primes to their knees, but the blue aurora hung in the air and began to pulse in an SOS reminiscent pattern. Solaris and the six ancient Primes looked up at the signal. "We must call Primus here." Solaris said. That caused June to scream in utter agony because she knew doing so would send Optimus to the Allspark. June would NOT stand for a plan that would take him from her. She glared at Optimus. Her eyes began to glow brighter than they ever had. Then, she gathered the energy from the other six ancients as the called to Primus. "NO!" Optimus cried out. As the signal left, June's body fell, limp and cold into Optimus' tender waiting servo. "You think she's…?" Trickshot couldn't stomach the word as he and Arcee approached Optimus, who still gently cradled June's body in his servo. Optimus' optics looked up at Jack and Arcee with utter agony. "She could not have survived. A Prime sacrifices their Spark to call Primus."

With a sonic boom, a blue shaft of light impacted the ground. Unicron's screams filled the air at the presence of his brother. Slowly, the Dark Energon rift turned blue. Then, Primus' voice called from the river of Energon with the tone of a concerned Dad. "Why do you not celebrate, my children?"He asked. Optimus, with pain and Sparkbreak in his voice, said, "My Sparkmate died so I would not." Primus was quiet for a moment. "Place her in the Energon, Optimus. Optimus kissed a digit, placed it gently on June's forehead, and laid her in the Energon. As her body dissolved away, Optimus' servos creaked because he clinched them so hard. Then, a sound as if someone were getting out of a pool greeted everyone's adios. Optimus, Jack, and Arcee's optics popped up at the strange sound. Their optics took in the image of a slim femme with similar markings and coloration to Ratchet on her plating. "June?" Optimus vented in mild disbelief. When the femme nodded, Jack, cried out, "Mom!" Optimus ran to his Sparkmate in a quite undignified gate, but no one even noticed. "Primus says I'm to stay." She told them as Jack, Arcee, and Optimus hugged her with tears of gratitude in their optics.

 **Please Read and Review. What do you think of the ending? That is what I really want to know.**


	29. The Final Battle

Chapter Twenty-nine: The Final Battle

The tender moment of a family hug was broken by a familiar voice that roared through Optimus Prime's comm. "PRIME!" Optimus sighed and turned away from his reunited family. "Yes, Agent Fowler?" Prime responded as calmly as he could manage. "Have you turned on the news lately?!" The addressed Prime sighed and quickly checked news feeds from the Internet. What he saw shocked him. Optimus was about to respond when he saw a vehicle approaching. June blinked her optics in surprise. "It's a news van from the local TV station." She said as she looked at the mech with fear in her optics. "What do we do, Optimus?" Trickshot asked. "We tell the people of Earth the truth, Jackson." He said calmly. "It is about time we step out of the shadows." All in attendance nodded at the red and blue mech while Fowler was flustered beyond intelligible speech. _Jack, I think you should take your human form._ Arcee told Jack silently. Trickshot nodded in agreement, transformed, got out of his alt mode and waited. Raphael took a cue from Jack and also took on his human form in preparation for the news crew.

As the dust cleared from the desert winds, Emily Garcia couldn't believe what she was seeing. Five large robots stood and looked at her while two guys stood by their cars and chatted with two of the robot females as if that was normal. "What are you?" She mumbled completely unaware that she could be heard easily. Jack smiled and walked up to the reporter. "They…" He trailed off and started again. "We are robotic autonomous organisms from the planet Cybertron. You may call us 'Autobots' for short." He said calmly. The woman just stared into space in shock. Arcee giggled. "Jack, dear, I think you broke her." Jack sighed and snapped his fingers in her face until she came out of the daze. "Excuse me…" Emily said with a sigh. "It's just a lot to take." Raphael smiled at the reporter. "Believe me," Jack answered. "When you're raised to be human and you find out different, it's quite a shock." He said with a laugh. The reporter smiled at Jack. "Saving the world probably just made you the most eligible bachelor in the world." Arcee bristled at the reporter's statement. _That glitch!_ She growled. _Easy, Arcee._ Jack soothed. "Actually, ma'am. It wasn't just me. My fellow Autobots deserve more credit than me. They've been fighting 'Cons much longer than I have." The woman gave him a sideways look. Arcee just shook her head in aggravation at the woman's needless prodding. _She's worse than Sierra_. Jack thought to himself.

At that moment, there was a sonic boom. The reporter just about jumped out of her skin which made everyone laugh. All laughter died when they saw Crystal slam into her Daddy. "You know it's not healthy for you to fly so fast, young lady." Jack admonished with a fatherly look. Crystal hung her helm. "I know, Daddy, but Uncle Ratchet has been trying to contact you!" June glared at the dirt for a moment. Finally, she looked up with wonder in her optics. "What is it, June?" Optimus asked with concern in his own optics. 'The composition of the dirt here creates a natural radio barrier with the addition of Energon." She said as she produced a Bot-sized test tube, took a sample, and put it away in Subspace. "What's going on, Crystal?" Arcee asked her daughter with a look in her eyes. The little femme sighed and produced a picture in her optics. "Inverse Portals…" Jack growled in anger. Heavy footfalls made the group turn. Jacquelyn shivered. Then, her eyes grew determined, and she charged toward an as of yet undetermined enemy.

As Jacquelyn's blades crossed with the other bot's, a deep rumble echoed from the foe's throat. Then, he threw Jacquelyn to the dirt. This sent Raphael charging in. The little mech surprised everyone as he began to kick aft. The boy's optic's glowed purple. "You. Don't. Touch. Her. You. Slagging. Scrapheap!" With every word, a new punch battered the assailant. The last punch was a violent uppercut that sent the attacker to the dirt. Then, with a roar of rage, the boy powered up his blasters and cut loose. The bot raised a digit to his comm. in the middle of the beat down and ordered, "Move in!" The order was answered by four beat up engines. Jacquelyn got up and glared at the oncoming vehicles. "Crystal, get back to Ratchet now!" Arcee ordered. The young femme didn't try to argue her way out of this one and just sprinted off. Negative Optimus glared at the dust cloud Crystal left in her wake until a sick smile crossed his faceplate. Trickshot glared at the dingy bot and growled. "Don't even think about it." Then, Trickshot started to bash Negative Prime with a fury like no other.

Meanwhile, Optimus and June tag teamed the Mad Doctor. He was fast and cocky. June moved quick and landed a few hits. Each hit made Hatchet grin wider. "Oh…this one's got some fight in her." With his mind distorted by Synth-En and the rest of his functional processor distracted by June's looks, the medic didn't check his six until a punch sent the bot sprawling. "Do not dare to speak to her like that, Monster!" Hatchet's polluted green optics went wide as Optimus "took the gloves off', picked up Hatchet, and slammed his chassis into the dirt with enough force to cause a localized quake. Optimus put his ped on Hatchet's chest as the bot struggle to get up. "Do you yield?' Optimus asked with a glare. "Never!" Hatchet roared as two Energon prods jumped out of each of his wrists. Hatchet then jolted Optimus until he went down. Hatchet looked up at June as he threw Optimus to the side like a ragdoll and smiled at her. The femme turned into a blur of motion and began to attack faster than the optic could track. Hatchet groaned and grunted as repeated strikes hit the butcher. With a yell of fury, the pissed off femme shot backwards over a mile and used all that kinetic energy of the running start to ram the Mr. Hyde to Ratchet's Dr. Jekyll. Hatchet sailed through the air on impact and slammed into a wall twenty miles away with enough force to carve a crater as deep as his chassis into the rock.

Arcee, Trickshot, and Airacnid had their servos full with Bulkhead and RC. Apparently, those two recently came into contact with the Polarity Gauntlet and had yet to be separated. Trickshot suppressed laughter as they fought the Siamese twins. The two had drastically different battle styles and kept getting in each other's way. The same could be said for Airacnid as she fought on the side of Arcee and Trickshot. The Bonded pair fought seamlessly and exploited the situation to the fullest. "Your Carrier leaks like a sieve!" Trickshot taunted. That got the reaction Jack hoped for and sent Bulkhead into a rage while RC struggled to get a shot off. "Hold still, you pile of scrap!" RC's roaring slur didn't stop Bulkhead as the massive bot charged the pair. Arcee punched and kicked at the massive bot, but he took every bit of damage she could give. RC smiled sweetly at Trickshot. "Hello, Muscles." Jack fought his gag reflex and glared at the femme as she trained her blasters on him and kept shooting at him. Due to Bulkhead's erratic motion, RC's shots missed every time. Jack smiled. "I don't date glitches like you! You'd interface with an offline chassis, if it had a spike. Even if it didn't, I bet you'd still frag the slag out of it!" He said calmly. That brought out scary strength in the femme. With a grunt, she hefted Bulkhead and used him as a club to bat Jack away. As the hybrid sailed through the air, he thought, _Yep. She's a Valve Chaser._

When Jack slammed into a boulder and slid to a stop, Arcee started to sprint to him. The femme felt slim servos grab her peds and kicked at the grip. When it shook loose, Arcee continued her sprint to Jack. Before she could get to him, however, a certain bot walked up with Crystal struggling in his grip. "*grunt* My Daddy is going to kick your aft!" Negative Optimus directed the femme to the cliff where Jack laid, unconscious. "I do not think so." He said with a dark smirk. Crystal glared at her captor's servo. "When you gotta, you gotta." She mumbled as she pushed out of his grip and shot out Lord Optimus' optics before she flew to Jack in worry. "Please, be ok, Dad." The little girl pleaded as she landed and laid her head on the chest of Jack's suit. Crystal was startled when the suit sat up. The first thought through his head was: _I wonder if RC and Good Airacnid ever…_ The thought was stopped cold as Arcee glared daggers at Trickshot and slapped his helm. "What?" Trickshot protested. "I am a mech." He told her as he got to his peds. "We'll talk about this later." Arcee said as Jack gulped. He would definitely be in the doghouse when this was all over.

Back on the battlefield, things were starting to look bleak for Lord Optimus and his Negative Autobots. Instead of having the desired effect of making his counterparts freeze when they saw the youngling in his servo, it made them go wild on their opponents and bend a few rules he knew Goody Two Shoes Optimus held close. He watched in fascination through hazy vision as his underlings were offlined. Then, the mech's optics succumbed to the damage they received from the femme's blasters and winked out forever. At the moment he lost his sight, "Lord" Optimus showed his true color: yellow. "Retreat!" He ordered only to discover, to his horror, that he was the only one of his band left online. Emily, who recorded the entire fight, threw her voice and made it as deep as she could. "Run, 'Lord' Optimus," She ordered. "Run away and never return!" The coward yelped like a femme and ran off before he transformed and tore up the nearby road out of town.

All the bots walked up to the woman as Jack, Arcee, and Crystal met her from a deferent direction. "Nice Scar impression." The little girl praised with a smile. Emily smiled at her, said, "Thank you," and noticed Jack and Arcee. The two parents glared at the reporter. "We will tell you our story and you can air it on one condition." She looked at Jack and Arcee in slight worry. "Tell the world we are not to be feared. We are here to protect our homes and families just as any other person would." She nodded with a kind smile. With that settled, Jack and Arcee began to weave the tale known as "From Liability to Lover and Beyond".

 **Please read and Review. I felt I left this story too open with the previous chapter. I hope this is a better wrap up.**


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